Scarlet's Road
by Torchix
Summary: We're on the third generation now, readers! And this one is no different. Chaos, madness, trouble, terror and comedy... not to mention romance later on! We have it all! Advanceshipping -tiny bit- , Scarletshipping etc. Open to OCs! Third in legacy series.
1. Scarlet’s Road: Introducing our heroes!

**[A/N: We're on the third generation now, readers! And this one is no different. Chaos, madness, trouble, terror and comedy... not to mention romance later on! We have it all, so how is Scarlet's journey gonna turn out? Advanceshipping, Scarletshipping etc... OPEN TO OCS!]**

**Me: Hey, how are you guys? I have probably edited this a million times as I started it during RJC, but who cares! If I get better I will change it. Well, here is the intro!**

**Scarlet's Road- Introducing our heroes!**

**"A tenth birthday is a major milestone in every child's life, it is the day they receive their first _ever_ Pokémon! And today is the turn of Scarlet Stone-Ketchum and her friends, that is, if someone would wake up..."**

**Scarlet's POV**

Hi, readers! Yes, I know you're out there, I have since I was alert enough to hear miss big mouth up in the sky. And according to her this is supposed to be my 'background' tale. Well, here we go, don't fall asleep.

I live with my PKMN master parents, who are currently in the running for best tag team against Aunt Pearl and Uncle Leaf. They are all loved up and can't keep their hands to themselves, I tell you! I have seen many things a ten year old should never see!

There is also my two six year old siblings, Rori and Roi, (I named them), they are lovely but crazy. They play tag all day long with mom's Torchic, called Torchix, you already know about her though.

**-Roi & Rori Stone-Ketchum: Adventurous, Bewildered, Carefree, Dramatic, Easy-going, Fearless, Proud, Open-minded, and Friendly.  
Roi has black hair and blue eyes and wears a blue and red striped T-shirt and jeans. Rori has lilac hair and blue eyes and wears a dark purple tank top and a black skirt.-**

And I'm Scarlet, as you know. First born, and probably the only sane one in this house... hey, stop laughing big mouth! Anyway...!

**-Scarlet Stone-Ketchum: Absent-minded, ****Ambitious, Amusing, ****Brave, Carefree, Clumsy, Cheerful, Cheerful, Excitable, Excitable, Kind, Friendly, Selfless, and Talkative.  
Raven curly hair in two loose/low ponytails behind her head. Red eyes, wearing a red jacket with a black T-shirt and red jean shorts and Red boots. Co-ordinator and Breeder-**

I'm off soon, up to Prof. Piaggesi and Oak's lab to get my first Pokémon, yup! Alex and Francesco moved here with their two kids, a girl and a boy, both older than me and already on their journey in Sinnoh. I'm hoping for a fire type... but if it talks I am going to commit suicide, I have a constant headache from Authoress anyway; I don't want it to get bigger.

Yup, we're going to Sinnoh! =D :D :O =O... what? Big mouth said we have to or it'll be 'boring' as you have all seen Kanto.

_What?_ I have to write a _theme tune_?! Are you mad?!

**Indigo's POV**

Hi readers! My background story? Sure, I'm Indigo Sketchit, Pokémon Trainer. I have only one sibling, well... half sibling to be truthful. I won't say how I got an older half-brother, but he is called Dax.

**-Dax Sketchit: Abusive, Aggressive, Antisocial, Audacious, Charming, Cocky, Defiant, Dishonest, Narcissist.  
Bluenette hair, short and neat. Green eyes and wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants. Co-ordinator-**

**- Indigo Sketchit: Adventurous, Aggressive, Amusing, Boisterous, Feisty, Outgoing, Friendly, Practical, Sarcastic.  
Dyed white-blonde hair with blue and green streaks in the fringe (used to be ginger), covering one eye. Blue eyes, wearing a black tank top and blue jean shorts. Black boots. Trainer.-**

And, well... that first personality trait from Dax... its right. I'm not gonna say why, K?

Scarlet is my best friend, _ever_. We've known each other all our lives, and even share a birthday, yeah! How cool is that?

My hair? Oh, I dyed it because I was teased at Poké Trainer School, I like being individual too. It's my style I guess, I developed it over a long time of rock music exposure. LOL! ...*stares at sky* mood killer.

**Auberon's POV**

Hi everyone, I'm Auberon. The one, the only, ELF! Nah, just kiddin'. I'm not _really_ and elf, I just have this weird birth defect called 'The elf defect'. I have pointed ears, light brown skin and red hair as well as mixed eyes.

**-Auberon Baker: ****Affectionate, Amusing, Artistic, Brave, Passionate, Kind, Honest, and Stubborn.  
Dark red hair with a light brown skin tone and a birth defect giving him pointed ears (Actually, his hair, skin and eyes are all part of a defect they named 'The elf defect'). One green eye and one blue eye. Wearing a white collared shirt with a green T-shirt with one yellow stripe across the chest and an orange scarf and jeans. Trainer-**

I'm an only child, and proud! Dad moved here from his job at a Pokoh gym for mom, I think it's weird, the girl's think its romantic... women...

I'm gonna be a Pokémon master one day, and everyone will see I am the _best_! Lol, hehe...

Back to sanity... my parents are _evil..._ Auberon means 'elf', they chose that name on _purpose_, they deny it, but I know the truth!

...What do you mean I'm insane? I AM NOT PARANOID! Sheesh... Ooo, there's someone behind that tree, I know it!

**Nevee's POV**

HI YA! I'm Nevee, but you can call me Eevee. I'm the Eevee girl, I luv 'em, mom even gave me one! YAY!

**-Nevee Strong: Affectionate, Amusing, Artistic, Cheerful, Cowardly, Curious, Dramatic, Energetic, Optimistic, Messy, Loving, Good-natured, Fun-loving, silly.  
Messy dark brunette hair in a long braid over her shoulder. Green eyes, black T-shirt with a red tartan button up shirt left open, jeans. Designer/painter/drawer-**

Hey! I am not silly! *sticks out tongue*

I dream about becoming a great Pokémon clothing designer and an artist, a bit unusual huh? I love art! And music too, but big mouth won't let me make the theme tune. *pouts*

Mom is great, she taught me how to make clothes for Pokémon and humans, and she is really funny! But she and dad are way too loved up, mom is pregnant again.

I can't wait to go on my journey! It's real cold in Sinnoh, but _who cares_? :) ;) =) =D :D ;D

**Jaspa's POV**

Hey. I'm Jaspa, as you know... do I have to do this? Can't you just put my description and be done with it? Thank you!

**-Jaspa Strong: Accident-prone, Aloof, Argumentative, Bipolar, Brazen, Composed, Cranky, and Ignorant.  
Ginger hair (inherited from grandfather), as pale as parents. Yellow eyes and in a white T-shirt and orange jacket and jeans. Researcher-**

**No POV**

Well, Scarlet did eventually finish the theme, and is now getting dressed for her first day on her journey! Everyone else, except sourpuss Jaspa, is really excited about heading out to Sinnoh. Shall we see how it turns out?

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Gimme back dat bowl, Roi!" little Rori shouted as she ran after the raven headed boy, who was running away with her bowl of cereal. The twins narrowly missed Scarlet as she walked downstairs, still tying one of her 'pigtails' up. She jumped up a step as the tore past her.****

"Whoa kiddo! Slow down!" she called after them. They just called 'sorry' back without stopping. Scarlet shook her head with a laugh and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a slice of toast and sitting down.

"Hey, Scarlet." Ruby smiled as her daughter sat down. Scarlet grinned back. "Good night's sleep?"

"Hardly, I was too excited. I need coffee, and lots of it." She replied. Ruby chuckled and stood back up, going over to the coffee maker and making a mug full for Scarlet. She handed it to her and Scarlet smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem, I'm afraid unless you want beaten and broken Shreddies for breakfast you'll have to wait for your father to come down." Ruby smiled as she sat across from Scarlet with her own cup of coffee.

"I'll wait, I don't trust you cooking and broken Shreddies? Considering _what_ broke them, no." Scarlet giggled. Ruby smiled at her.

"Yeah, Roi's bottom crushed cereal isn't that... _appealing_ shall we say." Both laughed.

"OI! PETER HURRY UP!" Torchix yelled from the living room. "I'M HUNGRY!"

Ruby groaned. "Torchix, I wish you'd stop waking my husband up this early!"

The little Torchic hopped into the room.

"Well today I have an excuse!" she pouted, looking at Scarlet. Scarlet glared.

"I wish you'd stop blaming everything on me, Torchix." She said, making Torchix stick her tongue out.

"Girls, stop it! I swear, you two are the most childish we have in the house." Peter groaned as he walked in, still in his baggy black PJs. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Don't wake me like that again, or I will get Quilava to dump you."

"Suuure you will. He never does." Torchix smirked, hopping away. Peter shook his head.

"Morning honey." Ruby smiled. Peter smiled back and kissed her lightly, at which Scarlet covered her eyes.

"Ew! Stop it, gross!" she said. Ruby pulled away and swatted her daughter's arm lightly.

"Stop being so immature, I was kissing your father at your age, maybe a year or so older, but close enough." Ruby said. Scarlet just gave her a look and then looked to her currently cooking father.

"Whatcha making?" Scarlet asked. Peter looked back at her.

"Pancakes for a quick meal. You want to be on time for your friends, right?" Peter said. Scarlet nodded.

"I sure do!"

A few minutes later and the pancakes were served, Scarlet grabbed three and started to eat them.

***

Indigo climbed up the last few steps to reach the lab's doors, waving at her cousin as she did so. Auberon waved back and gestured for her to hurry up. She did so and was soon next to him.

"Hi, how's you?" She asked. Auberon shrugged.

"I'm average, you?" he said.

"I'm good." Indigo smiled. "You can't wait to be travelling with no adults and Scarlet around, can you?" she teased. The elf like boy blushed.

"Shut up, I don't like her like that." He insisted. Indigo smirked.

"Then why are you blushing?" she said. He covered his face.

"Because you're embarrassing me." Auberon said. Indigo gave him a dismissive wave before looking behind him.

"Oh, hi Scarlet!" she said. Auberon jumped and turned around, only to see no one was there, Indigo burst out laughing. Auberon glared at her.

"So not funny, cous." He said. Indigo folded her arms.

"Gee, take a joke." She said.

"Oh, is that Jaspa?" Auberon said, making the girl jump too. "Ha! You like him!"

"I do not!" she said, a blush on her cheeks. She adjusted her blue chequered head band.

"You do, Indigo, you do." Scarlet said, walking up behind her friend, making her jump again.

"Scarlet!" Indigo hissed. Scarlet giggled and winked at her.

"So-rry!" she said in a sing-song voice. Indigo just face palmed and looked at her.

"Whatever, are the other two late again?" Indigo asked.

"No duh." Auberon said. "Shall I call them?"

"Their house is over there." Scarlet said, pointing to a white house down the large hill by the Lab. "NEVEE! JASPA! HURRY UP!" she screamed

The house jumped up and they saw a shape of a human pulling another behind it, and running at a very comical speed toward the hill, running up the grass instead of going to the steps. As they got closer you could see Nevee dragging her sour faced brother up behind her.

"OMG! I'm sorry we're late, Jaspa was taking _ages_ eating his cereal!" Nevee said. She let her brother's sleeve go when they got to their friends.

"More like I was delaying coming." He grunted. Nevee pouted and hugged him.

"We all know you're a big softie under that hard front!" she said, he pushed her off.

"Whatever." Jaspa said. Scarlet raised an eyebrow before knocking on the door to the lab. A woman with brunette hair to her mid-back, wearing a cobalt blue T-shirt, with white fingerless gloves, white jeans and black shoes came out.

"Hi ya Alex!" Scarlet smiled. Alex smiled back at her.

"Hello Scarlet, hello guys." She said. They all, minus Jaspa, smiled back. "Come in, Francesco and Gary are waiting for you."

"Thank you!" Indigo said. They all walked through into the main lab area where the two stood. Gary was only in his early sixties (about), just like all of their grandparents, if they had them, so hadn't changed much. Francesco was close to exactly the same, except he was in a white lab coat.

"Hello." He smiled.

"Hiya!" Nevee said cheerfully. Gary chuckled.

"I will never get over how cheerful you always are, Nevee." He said. "OK, so as you know we have Pokémon from all regions here, so take your pick! Scarlet, you go first."

"I wanna Charmander, please!" Scarlet replied. Gary handed her a Poké ball. "I'm gonna name him Asher."

"Can I have a Mudkip please?" Indigo said. Gary handed her a blue topped Poké ball. After a while they all had their Pokémon.

Scarlet: Asher (Charmander)

Indigo: Mudkip

Auberon: Turtwig

Nevee: (She already has an Eevee) Cynders (Cyndaquil)

Jaspa: Bulbasaur

"OK, so all hold onto your Pokédex well, if you lose it, you don't get another." Francesco chuckled as he handed out the white Pokèdexes.

"We will." Auberon said. "Can't guarantee Eevee won't break it in excitement _whilst_ holding it though."

"Hey!" Nevee pouted. They all laughed. (Now may be a good time to note that when it says 'all laughed' it doesn't count Jaspa.)

"Come on, let's go." Jaspa said dully. "I want to get this over with."

"Stop being such a spoilsport, Jas." Nevee said. Her face then was filled by a huge grin. "C'mon! Let's go!" she added, grabbing his arm and running out of the building. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Hyper much?" Indigo said. "Well, she has the right idea, let's be off!"

"Yup! C'mon, we won't catch up with her otherwise." Scarlet giggled, running off, waving back at her friends and the Professors. Auberon was soon to follow, with Indigo shaking her head before running with them.

_This is sure going to be interesting._ She thought with a smile.

***

**Me: How was it? I HAD NO GRAMMAR WARNINGS! YAY! *cough* Right, back to sanity. I like the new group, there seems to be more personalities I can use, but I am looking for a load of OCs! Here is the profile you'll need:**

**Name: (Both please)**

**Nickname: (If they don't have one, I don't _need_ it)**

**Age: (From ten upwards)**

**DOB: (Date of Birth)**

**Hometown: (Any region)**

**Hair: (Style, colour, accessories)**

**Eyes: (Colour)**

**Clothes: (Contest too please)**

**Occupation: (Trainer? Coordinator? Researcher? Designer?)**

**Personality: (Use adjectives like in the mini profiles for the characters, please)**

**Family: (Unless they have none)**

**Pokémon: (If a starter two max, if older six max)**

**Future Pokémon: (Evolutions, Catches, Trades)**

**Goals: (What they want to do!)**

**Crush: (If they have one on a character of mine, then that's fine too!)**

**Back-story: (They didn't come from nowhere, so where, how, what, when, why, who?)**

**Role wanted: (Good guy? Bad guy (New Team)? New gym leader? If the latter I will need to send you a separate profile.)**

**I'll also need what type of episode you would want them to appear in, I will have only limited ones as reoccurring, ones I think are worth it. Don't be offended if you're just a one off. **

**So our hero's would be:**

**Name: Scarlet Stone-Ketchum**

**Nickname: N/A**

**Age: 10**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: Curly raven hair in two low and loose 'pigtails' down her shoulders, red hair ties.**

**Eyes: Red**

**Clothes: Red jacket, black T-shirt and red jeans shorts and in red boots. Contest- A red Kimono with Japanese on.**

**Occupation: Co-ordinator and Breeder**

**Personality: ****Absent-minded, ****Ambitious, Amusing, ****Brave, Carefree, Clumsy, Cheerful, Cheerful, Excitable, Excitable, Kind, Friendly, Selfless, And Talkative.**

**Family: Ruby Stone-Ketchum, mother**

** Peter Stone-Ketchum, father**

** Roi and Rori Stone Ketchum, siblings**

**Pokémon: Asher (Charmander, male)**

**Future Pokémon: Why would I say? ;)**

**Goals: Become top co-ordinator**

**Crush: Auberon Baker**

**Back story: Scarlet has lived a great, luxury filled life due to her parents and grandparents positions. She has lived fascinated by Pokémon, and has a bit of influence from Torchix, poor kid. She has been looking forward to this since she was aware of it, and after seeing all her grandmother's ribbons she had fallen in love with contests, and is very confident she will do well.**

**Name: Indigo Sketchit**

**Nickname: N/A**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: Died white-blonde hair with green and blue streaks in the fringe. Short and covers one eye.**

**Eyes: Blue**

**Clothes: Black tank top and blue jean shorts, black boots.**

**Occupation: Trainer**

**Personality: ****Adaptable, Adventurous, Aggressive, Amusing, Boisterous, Feisty, Outgoing, Friendly, Practical, Sarcastic. **

**Family: Pearl Sketchit, mother**

** Leaf Sketchit, father**

** Dax Sketchit, half-brother**

**Pokémon: Mudkip (female)**

**Future Pokémon: I'm not telling!**

**Goals: Winner of the Sinnoh league, and Pokémon master.**

**Crush: Jaspa Strong**

**Back Story: She hasn't lived as much of a pampered life as her friend, but it was way above average all the same! She has a lot of famous relatives, and has lived well. She became inspired to be a trainer after watching her Uncle Matthew when he moved over and took on the Pallet gym. She has been hooked ever since.**

**Name: Auberon Baker**

**Nickname: Elf**

**DOB: 9th July 2028**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: Red and windswept off to the left**

**Eyes: One blue and one green**

**Clothes: ****A white collared shirt with a green T-shirt with one yellow stripe across the chest and an orange scarf and jeans.**

**Occupation: Trainer**

**Personality: Amusing, Artistic, Brave, Passionate, Kind, Honest, And Stubborn**

**Family: Yellow Baker, mother**

** Matthew Baker, father**

**Pokémon: Turtwig (male)**

**Future Pokémon: If you haven't guessed I'm not saying.**

**Goals: Become Leader of Pallet gym**

**Crush: Scarlet Stone-Ketchum, and ??? ;)**

**Back Story: He wasn't as privileged as his cousin and friend, he has lived a modest life being inspired by his father to become a gym leader. **

**Name: Nevee Strong**

**Nickname: Eevee**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: ****Messy dark brunette hair in a long braid over her shoulder, no bobble. **

**Eyes: Green (I love green eyes, I had to have her inherit them from Walter, hehe...)**

**Clothes: Black T-shirt with a red tartan button up shirt left open, jeans.**

**Occupation: Designer, Painter, Drawer.**

**Personality:** **Affectionate, Amusing, Artistic, Cheerful, Cowardly, Curious, Dramatic, Energetic, Optimistic, Messy, Loving, Good-natured, Fun-loving, Silly.**  
**Family: Gemma Strong, mother**

** Walter Strong, father**

** Jaspa Strong, twin**

** Baby on the way!**

**Pokémon: Eve (Eevee Female)**

** Cynders (Cyndaquil, male)**

**Future Pokémon: If you wanna know, TOUGH! Lol**

**Crush: Unknown, if you create someone you want to be with her, then yay!**

**Back story: Has lived a modest life in a nice little house near the ranch. She has always been a bit... _different_, and has enjoyed her own company a lot as her brother is a sourpuss. She even keeps an imaginary friend...**

**Name: Jaspa Strong**

**Nickname: N/A**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: Ginger hair, neatly gelled. **

**Eyes: Yellow**

**Clothes: Orange jacket, white t-shirt and jeans.**

**Occupation: Researcher**

**Personality: Accident-prone, Aloof, Argumentative, Bipolar, Brazen, Composed, Cranky, And Ignorant.**

**Family: Gemma Strong, mother**

** Walter Strong, father**

** Nevee Strong, twin**

** Baby on the way!**

**Pokémon: Bulbasaur (Male)**

**Future Pokémon: Who knows? Probably none, lol**

**Crush: He may not know it but its Indigo Sketchit **

**Back Story: Mainly the same as Nevee, but he was way too comfortable with his own company. He would sit for hours on end researching all sorts of crap, and not play like a normal kid. He and his sister have never been close, but she loves 'im and is trying to get him to open up.**

**Whoa! A lot of writing, well, submit 'em! I can't tell when they'll be in, it all depends on how many chapters I've written in advance of this one's release! **


	2. Episode 1: Catching the Scarlet tide!

**Me: I didn't expect so many OCs! They will appear later on, but I've written ahead so they will appear from chapter three onward. I would like to thank Nathen Pierce as his characters past gave me an idea! YAY!**

**Episode 1: Catching the Scarlet tide!**

**"Why am I still here? *sigh* Our heroes are currently heading toward Sinnoh on a large ship, tending to their new Pokémon and chatting about what to do next, but who know what will happen? Gem is writing it!"**

Scarlet sat on the bars on the edge of the ship, Asher sitting at her feet, jumping out of the way of any stray flecks of water that might endanger his life.

"It's so beautiful out here, isn't it Asher?" Scarlet said. Asher gave her a look, at which she giggled. "Of course you wouldn't think so, you hate water."

"Char!" he nodded. Scarlet smiled. She looked at the horizon, they wouldn't be at Sinnoh any time soon. She must have leaned a bit too far though as she found herself slipping backwards, she let out a scream.

Only a second later Scarlet felt a hand wrap around her wrist, and herself being pulled back up onto her feet. Opening her eyes and letting go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding, she saw her elf like friend standing inches from her, his hand still wrapped around her wrist.

"Gee, Scarlet, can't you even keep yourself upright?" Auberon chuckled. Scarlet glared but blushed. Wriggling her wrist from his grip she stepped back.

"I was trying to spot Sinnoh." She said. Auberon smiled.

"You'd have a job, we're not even a quarter of the way there."

"Really? I didn't know!" Scarlet said sarcastically. Auberon shook his head and walked over to the railings. Scarlet followed.

"It is a very beautiful day." Auberon said. "I like nature."  
"I know, must be that elf gene kicking in." Scarlet smiled. "How's Turtwig?"

"Oh, he's snacking with the other Pokémon, which is probably where your Charmander has gone." Scarlet jumped and turned to see that her Pokémon had gone. "You need to keep a better eye on him."

"I guess so, if he hasn't gone to the others I will be seriously worried." Scarlet replied. Auberon stood up straight again.

"We better go check then, coming?" he asked. Scarlet nodded.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Asher wandered around the large ship, childish curiosity taking over any sense of judgement he had. He was currently wandering around the store room on the third basement level, nowhere near the dining hall where he was _supposed_ to be.

He perked up when he heard voices coming from a crate nearby, he wandered over and pressed where his ear is to the wood.

"Ow! Gwyneth, get off my foot!"

"I'm not on your foot, Gareth!"

"I'm squished so it ain't meh!"

Asher jumped back as the one wall of the crate fell to the ground, showing a purple haired woman, and a blonde haired man with a Meowth.

They all rolled out of the crate and groaned. The Meowth was first to notice Asher staring at them. "Oi! What ya lookin' at?" Asher jumped and ran off. The purple haired woman leapt up and glared at Meowth.

"We could've stolen that, twit!" she said.

"We could, but it wouldn't do us much good." The male said.

"Oh shut up Gareth." The woman said.

"He's right ya know, Gwyneth." Meowth said. Gwyneth grunted.

"Who asked you?" she said after a moment of thinking. "Anyway, let's go and search the ship for loot!"

"Finally a good idea! Come on." Gareth said.

***

"Oh there you are you silly Pokémon!" Scarlet exclaimed as she saw Asher run into the lobby, she scooped him up. "I was worried!"

"Charmander, Char!" he said, waving his arms around as he tried to explain what he had seen and heard.

"Come on, you must be hungry." Scarlet smiled, Asher groaned and gave the audience a look, arms out with palms up. They went into the cafeteria where Scarlet set Asher on the table and he started to eat from the tin of Poké food.

"I see you found him then." Came Indigo's voice. Scarlet looked up at her friend and nodded.

"He just ran into the lobby, I dunno why but he gave big mouth a weird look." Scarlet said. Hey, can you stop calling me big mouth? "Nah." Great, thanks.

"Stop breaking the wall and come with us, we have cookies!" Nevee said, popping up from nowhere. "C'mon! Sophie is getting bored!" she added before running off.

"Uh, who is Sophie?" Indigo asked. Scarlet sweatdropped.

"Her imaginary friend." She replied. Indigo's face went all -.- o.o-O.O-O.o

"That is just..." Indigo started. "...Nevee." she finished after a long pause. Scarlet giggled.

"Yup, that's just all Nevee. Hee-hee, c'mon, we better go so she doesn't get annoyed." She said, walking off. Indigo shook her head to bring herself back to her senses and followed.

They soon arrived at the edge of the ship again, finding that their friends were staring over the edge of the barrier at the water below.

"What's down?" Indigo asked. Auberon looked up.

"Come and look at the water!" he said, gesturing for them to come over. He moved out of the way as the two girls, and Asher, peered over the edge. Asher jumped away immediately of course.

Both new trainers' eyes widened when they saw what was attracting all the attention, the water was _red_. "!!": Was Indigo's reaction. "That isn't blood is it?"

"No no, it's not. It's called the 'Scarlet Tide'." Jaspa said in his factual tone. "That is the coral letting off a special type of rock powder that dyes the water red. It's all scientific."

"Gee, way to spoil the moment, dude." Auberon said. Jaspa just turned back to the water. "Wow, we found something he is interested in."

"I am not afraid to hit you." Jaspa said. Auberon folded his arms.

"Sure, like it would do any harm! You're a stick, man, no offence." Auberon retorted. Jaspa seemed to ignore him.

"You two are as bad as siblings fighting, really, now what we gunna do until we get off this ship?" Scarlet asked. Nevee jumped around.

"I wanna play with my Pokémon!" Nevee said.

"A sane suggestion for once!" Indigo giggled. "Good idea, Eevee, let's go play!"

***

**Meanwhile...**

"Hehe, how many more are dere?" asked Meowth. Gareth counted all the Poké balls on the shelves.

"About two hundred and fifty. We've got about half." He said after a while.

"Well move faster!" Gwyneth said loudly, she was just standing there bossing them around, as per usual with the female human in this trio's family.

"We'd be faster if you helped out a bit, y'know Gwen!" Gareth said, looking back at the lilac haired woman. She shrugged.

"I just had my nails done." She said. Meowth sweatdropped.

***

Eve jumped onto Cynders back, only to jump straight up because of the flames on his back. Asher sighed at them and ran off to play with Turtwig.

"I feel sorry for our Pokémon." Scarlet said as she watched them. "They have to hang around with some of the maddest people on the planet. And I'm not insulting us, I'm insulting big mouth."

Gee, thanks. Why does every generation _other_ than the characters I don't own hate me? *sigh*

"I agree with you on that, Scarlet." Indigo said. "Big mouth isn't so much insane, but she's annoying. But our Pokémon are going to be around Nevee a lot, and she is more childish than Roi and Rori put together."

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Nevee yelled.

"I can tolerate the voice more than I can any of you." Jaspa said. OK, normally I would be flattered, but they're your best friends! "Whatever."

Just then his Bulbasaur jumped up onto his lap. Jaspa looked down at it before looking back up and grabbing a magazine about Pokémon. Bulbasaur's eyes welled with tears and soon he was bawling. Nevee stopped what she was doing and was over in a flash, grabbing the Pokémon and hugging it.

"Big meanie! Your Pokémon just wants attention!" Nevee said. "Use that softie side I know you have!" Jaspa ignored her.

"Leave him, Nevee. He's not gunna soften up, ever, so why bother?" Auberon said. Nevee pouted.

They were all then interrupted by a loud bang coming from a room just off the lobby.

"Give those Pokémon back, creeps!" someone yelled.

"Ha! As if, fatty, we're keeping these Poké balls!" came another voice. A rather chubby male then ran out of a door followed by a trio we have seen just a little while ago.

"What are you all looking at? Don't interfere and nobody gets hurt!" Gwyneth shouted before she and the two males ran off.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm following." Scarlet said before running after them. Indigo gave her cousin a look before running after Scarlet, quickly followed by Auberon. Nevee grabbed her Pokémon and ran too, leaving a very un-bothered Jaspa to groan and follow, Bulbasaur shadowing his every move.

"Phew, we lost 'im." Meowth panted as the group of three hid behind a wall. Gareth nodded.

"I doubt anyone followed." He said. Gwyneth put her hands on her hips.

"Of course they d-..." she started only to be interrupted.

"Oi! What are you lot doing causing trouble?!" Scarlet yelled as she saw the three. Gareth's eyebrow twitched.

"T-Trouble?" he stuttered.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble!  
Gwyneth: Make it double!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

During their little show the others had all slowly started to arrive, and one by one they caught on to what was going on. It's safe to say none were impressed by who I had introduced into the plot.

"What're are you doing here, Team Rocket?! I thought Mom took you down with all her friends!" **(Is anyone getting a sense of Déjà vu with that line? I am.)**

"Right, as if. Your Great Aunt escaped a while ago, kiddo, she's back in charge and more evil than ever!" Gwen said.

"What are you doing on a ship?" Indigo said.

"Nabbing Poké balls, what else?" Gareth said. "Now if you don't mind we'll be on our way."

"Oh as if!" Auberon said, reaching for his Poké ball. Asher jumped out next to Turtwig when he was released and the two nodded at each other before glaring at TRm3. Meowth snickered.

"You fink ya gonna beat us wid them noobs?" he said. Seconds later he was running around with a flaming butt.

Gwen threw a Poké ball and a Dustox popped out, flying above his trainer.

"Use stun spore!" Gwen ordered. The orange powder started to fall but the two Pokémon jumped out of the way, and Eve jumped up, firing a Shadow Ball at the Pokémon, knocking him back into his trainer and promptly making TR do what they do best.

"I really did wish we'd never have to do this." Gwen groaned.

"Ya fink? Well, we better do it." Meowth sighed.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF!" Hey! Where's the again?

Back on the ship everyone was sweatdropping. "They are so weird..." And how exactly would you know? "Rehearsals."

"That is just so strange..." Indigo said. "They're not gunna follow us are they?"

"Probably, it is 'tradition'." Scarlet said. "Well, we have a long journey ahead of us, what shall we do?"

"HIDE AND SEEK!" Nevee squealed.

***

**Me: Yay! I like this chapter, for no apparent reason, lol. After a few chapters I may put up a poll to see who likes who best... that sounds sooo sad.**


	3. Episode 2: Starters' Road!

**Me: BACK! We welcome two of my own OCs into this chapter, but don't worry! Yours will appear... eventually. XD So many OCs too! OMG! Thank you, everyone! I will have to change my mind about some OC, so if I told you you'd be a repeated character and you turn into a one off, don't kill me! PLEASE!**

**Episode 2- Starters' road!**

**"After their very eventful journey over to Sinnoh Scarlet and co. are now in Sandgem Town, ready to head over to Prof. Rowan's lab." **

"Hey! Give that back, Auberon!" Scarlet called as her elfin friend ran off waving her belt of empty, and one full, Poké balls in the air.

"Betcha can't catch me!" Auberon laughed as he sped off. Scarlet put her hands on her hips before running after him. Jaspa shook his head at them, folding his arms across his chest. Nevee hugged him but he pushed her off again.

The remaining members of the group stopped when Auberon was tackled to the ground by Scarlet.

"Guys, stop killing each other. Elf, give her back the belt and Scarlet, get off him." Indigo sighed. Scarlet jumped up and snatched the belt back, clipping it around her waist. Auberon chuckled and brushed himself off.

"Are we going to the lab or not?" Jaspa asked in his serious tone. Indigo glared at him.

"Stop being such a spoilsport, Jas." She said. "All you care about it poking and prodding at Pokémon to learn about 'em." Jaspa ignored her.

They did eventually reach the lab, Nevee being the replacement Torchix and jumping the whole way.

"Hello? Professor?" Auberon said, poking his head around the door and looking into the lab.

"Come in!" came a feminine voice. Auberon raised an eyebrow.

"I thought Prof. Rowan was male?" he said. Scarlet face palmed.

"He died when my mom was still on the road, Elf! His sister's kid took over." She groaned.

They walked in and were greeted by a purple haired lady, she had grey eyes and was in a very long, slightly tight, lab coat. Auberon was drooling which earned a smack with a mallet from Scarlet and a slap from Indigo whilst Nevee just started talking and laughing with 'Sophie'.

"I'm Violet Rowan, are you new trainers?" Violet asked as she led them through to a room at the back. On the table sat the three Sinnoh starters, all chowing down on some food.

"Yep." Nevee giggled. "I'm not a trainer though."

"I see, well, come over and I'll explain a bit about Sinnoh." Violet said.

"Miss Violet, have you seen Flower run past here?" Someone said. The group turned around.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

There was a girl with long, wavy pale blonde hair in a pink and white bow holding it near her neck in a very loose ponytail with green eyes and wearing a white t-shirt with a cute, small pink cardigan over the top, a pair of white jeans and pink flats.

Next to her was another girl with short, messy brunette hair under a blue knit beanie, the hair curves around her face at the ends and she had blue eyes. She was wearing a knit blue jumper, jeans and a pair of dark brown ugg boots. She is like, _tiny_! She's shorter than me and I'm only 4.9!

"Whoa, it's Scarlet and company!" The brunette said.

"Hi there guys!" The blonde said. "We haven't seen you since we were like, five!"

"Hope and Destiny?" Indigo asked. The brunette, Destiny, nodded.

"Hi earthlings." Destiny laughed.

"How's authoress?" Auberon asked. I'm fine, duh! You've only been hearing me for the past two and a bit chapters! "Oh, right..."

"Mom is fine, Dad too as far as we know. He hasn't visited for a week or two." Hope said in a quiet voice.

"Daddy's girl." Destiny muttered.

"Am not!" Hope pouted. Destiny mouthed 'whatever' at her.

"Um, no. I don't recall Flower running by, why?" Violet asked.

"She just disappeared, we have no idea where she is." Destiny said.

"Who's Flower?" Nevee asked curiously.

"My starter, a Chikorita." Hope said. "She ran off a little while ago, we can't find her."

"We'll help." Scarlet said. Jaspa groaned earning a smack round the head from Indigo. "Where would she go?"

"To play probably, either that or look for flowers," Hope replied. "She like them a bit too much."

"Let's go check outside, maybe she went to play with the Pokémon out there?" Indigo suggested. Destiny shrugged.

"I guess, come on!" Destiny said, walking toward the door out to the ranch. The others followed.

"Whoa!" Scarlet gasped.

***

"Look at all those starter Pokémon!" Gwen said with starry eyes. Down on the ranch below them were many small starter Pokémon from all regions, running around and playing.

"Whoa, if we could nab all a dem we'd be rich!" Meowth said. Gareth sighed.

"And you really think after yesterday we can take them one?" He asked.

"Hell yeah!" Gwen shouted. "Let's do it!"

***

"How many starters are there out here?" Auberon said. Jaspa looked at him.

"66.5." He said matter-of-factually. Nevee gave him a confused and curious look.

"There's half a Pokémon here?" She asked.

"No, there's an egg." Jaspa said. Nevee looked disappointed.

"Can you see Flower?" Scarlet asked. Hope stood on her tip-toes to see around.

"I can see loads of Chikorita, but I can't tell if I can see Flower or not." The blonde girl replied as she dropped back onto flat feet.

"I can't believe how many starters are out here." Indigo said. "We better start searching for Flower. Jaspa, you may as well stay here, you obviously don't care."

Jaspa just shrugged and walked to the side of the building leaning against it and by the looks of it examining each of the sixty-six Pokémon from afar. Each of the others started to look around for the elusive Chikorita, calling out her name every now and again.

Scarlet jumped when she heard her Poké ball open. "Asher! Come back!" She yelled after the Charmander, but he was now lost in the sea of starters. Scarlet groaned and started to instead look for her Pokémon.

"Flower, Flower!" Indigo hollered. Sighing she hung her head. Then the sound of a Poké ball made her jump, the others were miles away, so that means... "Mudkip!"

"Where is that little rascal?" Destiny pondered as she walked around looking for the Pokémon. Little? She's a giant compared to you! "One: Over exaggeration there and two: you are only two inches higher than me." Then Destiny was _distracted_ by something sliding down her leg, looking she saw her Squirtle, called Bubbles, running off laughing. One of those vein things appeared on her temple. "Bubbles!"

Auberon face palmed as he once again found the wrong Chikorita. "Figures, someone in life is out to get me." Yeah, you know what I said about you being paranoid? I am right. No arguing with me either. It was then he too heard a Poké ball, he spun around and saw his troublesome Turtwig **(Try and say that ten times faster! XD) **running off. "TURTWIG! YOU WERE PLANNING TO ABANDON ME ALL ALONG, WEREN'T YOU!?" Auberon? "Yeah?" How about you go and find him again instead of assuming things like the paranoid doop you are? "OK."

"~Flower~!" Nevee called in a strange sing-song voice. I really should not have crossed both fingers when I wished for this generation to have normal children... "~Flower where are you?~" Nevee was thankfully distracted from her hunt when something landed on her foot, looking down to see her Cyndaquil, Cynders, who promptly giggled and ran off. "CYNDERS! COME BACK TO ME!" Are you sure you are not secretly not my OCs daughter and are in fact Auberon's sister? "Yup." OK then.

Jaspa? "Yes?" You do realise your Bulbasaur has run off to join the sixty six Pokémon over there? "Yes." Are you going to do anything about it? "No." Alrighty then, DESTINY! SEARCH FOR A BLUBASAUR WITH A LEAF SHAPE ON ITS HEAD WOULD YOU?

Then the 'peace' of ranch was disturbed when a large, Poké ball shaped machine with arms and legs and a huge red 'R' painted on the front walked out of the woods, crushing trees as it went.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble as we come from the trees!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, we're the bee's knees!Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

A net shot out of the centre button of the Poké ball and the top part opened to reveal the annoying trio, I think now would be a good time to say that Gwen is in a _florescent pink_ uniform, not black. O.o

The net surrounded all the starter Pokémon, but not the trainers by some miracle.

"Team Rocket!" Auberon yelled. Destiny face palmed.

"Mom?" Yes? "You're evil." I know dear.

"Give all those Pokémon back!" Indigo shouted. Gwen laughed.

"As if, twerpette. You can't even fight back!" She sniggered.

"No, but I can!" Violet said as she ran out from the lab. "Those Pokémon are for new trainers, I will not let you take them, go Gardevoir!"

The Embrace Pokémon appeared, eyes already glowing. The TR trio gulped slightly. The top half of the Poké ball above them started to glow blue around the edges, then it suddenly tore off.

"Gardevoir, use magical leaf!" Violet called, purple glowing leaves fired at the net, breaking the top of it and letting it fall loose from the machine sending all the starters falling.

"It's raining starter Pokémon!" Nevee giggled before it sunk in. "OH MY GOD RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" You need to stop acting like Torchix! Catch them!

Each human grabbed as many as they could, some ending up in very precarious positions. By pure coincidence, *coughs*, a certain Bulbasaur flew in the uncaring Jaspa's direction. He caught it, stunned, and looked at it. The leaf marking on its forehead made it evident whose it was.

"Oh." He said.

Meanwhile Scarlet had managed to let all the Pokémon she was holding to the floor and then glare at TRm3.

"You don't think you're getting off lightly, do you?" She said with a smirk, turning to Indigo. Her friend grinned and they turned back to the machine. "Asher, wherever you are, use Ember, full power!"

"Mudkip use Water Gun!" Indigo called. A Charmander not far from Scarlet turned to TR and fired off an Ember attack whilst a Mudkip fired off Water Gun at the sound of her trainer's voice.

Team Rocket gulped as the attacks hit the machine and they were yet again...

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Indigo and Scarlet high-fived.

Meanwhile the other trainers were finding their respective Pokémon, Hope squealing when she found Flower at last, hugging the grass type tightly. I need to get those two checked at a psychiatrists...

"You should have known you'd make the weirdest kids of this generation." Auberon said. *Glare*.

***

"Where are you headed, Destiny, Hope?" Scarlet asked as they walked down the path toward Sandgem's exit.

"We're taking a route around Jubilife City and heading straight for Oreburgh for Tiny's gym badge." Hope said, gesturing to her shorter sister. Destiny pouted.

"I hate that nickname." She said.

"We're going to Jubilife, Scarlet wants to enter the contest." Indigo said.

"YAY! I can't wait to see all the cute Pokémon!" Nevee giggled. Jaspa face-palmed.

"Lighten up, man!" Auberon said, slapping Jaspa on the back earning a glare. "You just had to inherit your mother's death glare, didn't you?"  
They soon came to a road where there was a small path leading up the shortcut to Oreburgh and the other larger path to Jubilife.

"Guess we'll be seeing you around." Indigo said. Destiny nodded.

"Yep, probably at a gym knowing mom." She said. "We better run, cya!"

She and Hope turned and walked down the path.

"Off we go!" Scarlet grinned.

***

**Me: How wazzat? I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING! Most OCs submitted from now on may just be one offs, so I REALLY need what you would like to have happen in their episode. KK? Well, here are Destiny and Hope's profiles:**

**Name: Destiny Ashmore**

**Nickname: Tiny (She's shorter than her mom!)**

**Age: 10**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Viridian City**

**Hair: Dark, short Brunette hair under a blue knit beanie, the hair curves around her face. It's a bit messy.**

**Eyes: Blue**

**Clothes: Knit blue jumper, jeans and a pair of dark brown ugg boots. **

**Occupation: Trainer**

**Personality: Boisterous, Athletic, Clever, Over-Confident**

**Family: Mother, Gem Ashmore**

** Father, Walter Strong (the other one, his nickname is RWalter, or Walty to Gem, he only visits)**

** Twin, Hope Ashmore **

**Pokémon: Squirtle (Bubbles)**

**Future Pokémon: Wartortle-Blastoise, Burmy Sandy Cloak (shiny)-Mothim, Shieldon, Pineco-Forretress, Sandshrew, Nuzleaf **

**Goals: Take Over mom's gym**

**Crush: N/A (I may choose someone's OC)**

**Back-story: Her parents are very unusual. Not of the Pokémon world when they are in the PKMN world they are about thirty, once in the animal world they are fourteen! Her father only visits, though, and still brings her mother school work that she now passes with ease. Destiny is a nice girl, big headed and with a tendency to let the sibling rivalry take over her better judgement in an argument with her sister. She has always dreamed of taking over the gym.**

**Name: Hope Ashmore**

**Nickname: N/A**

**Age: 10**

**DOB: 10th July 2028**

**Hometown: Viridian City**

**Hair: Long, Wavy pale blonde hair inherited from grandmother. It's got a pink and white bow holding it near her neck in a very loose ponytail.**

**Eyes: Green **

**Clothes: A white t-shirt with a cute, small pink cardigan over the top. A pair of white jeans and pink flats. **

**Occupation: Designer **

**Personality: Sweet, Kind, Helpful, Excitable, Shy, Friendly**

**Family: Mother, Gem Ashmore**

** Father, Walter Strong**

** Twin, Destiny Ashmore**

**Pokémon: Chikorita (Flower)**

**Future Pokémon: Bayleef-Meganium, Roselia-Roserade, Mime Jr.**

**Goals: Become a top designer**

**Crush: N/A (Same as for her sister)**

**Back-story: She has always been a daddy's girl, but he rarely spends longer than a few hours so she is very disappointed. She is a nice, quiet girl who draws her Pokémon and Human clothing designs most of the day, but loves to play with her Pokémon too.**

**R&R!**


	4. Ep 3: Mystery and Mystery

**Me: Another Chapter today! WHOOP! We welcome an OC in this chapter, not one made my me either! Thanks to Pokémon2471 for submitting one after the notice in Poké Academy! **

**Episode 3- Mystery and Mystery**

**"After a slightly strange adventure at the Sinnoh Laboratory our heroes are on route 202 toward Jubilife City where Scarlet will compete in her first contest, but what is this road block?"**

"Oh c'mon! Move!" Scarlet groaned, pushing against the Pokémon. "Move you stupid Pokémon!"  
"Auberon, you could help!" Indigo yelled as she too tried to push the Pokémon. "Move ya ass, fatty!" she then yelled at the said Pokémon. Auberon just leant against a tree laughing. Jaspa was watching them, sighing and shaking his head.

"Move sesame!" Nevee said, holding her arm out at the Pokémon and closing her eyes. When she opened them she pouted. "Aw!"

"Bib!" the Pokémon said, standing up and walking off, making Scarlet and Indigo fall flat on their faces. Scarlet twitched as the others looked on with wide eyes.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"At least we can move again now." Auberon said whilst trying to stifle laughter. Both girl's faces were covered in mud, and no matter how hard they scrubbed it would _not_ come off.

"Shut up." Scarlet hissed. Auberon just stuck his tongue out at her.

"Don't fight people! Feel the love!" Nevee said, appearing between Scarlet and Auberon and putting her arm over each of their shoulders, pushing them closer. Both shrugged out of her grip and took a step away from each other.

"Look, can we get this over with? Can't you skip like you did with mom's journey with Aunt Ruby?" Jaspa asked impatiently. No, I can't, because this is only the third chapter and I am aiming to make this story _longer_ than RJC, (yes longer than 78 chapters) so I'm not skipping a thing! "I hate you." I know, I'm used to it.

"Hey, who're they?" Indigo said, forgetting about her messy face and pointing at a pair.

Both were dressed in black and purple. The female had short and spiky blonde hair, in a pair of purple shorts and a long-sleeved black shirt with a purple 'U' on the right breast. She had high black boots with purple buttons down the front and was currently speaking to the male with her arms folded across her chest.

The said male was in a purple t-shirt with a black 'U' on the left breast, black trousers and with purple boots. He had long black hair with... _pink_ highlights(?!), and was looking at the girl with a bored look.

"What do you mean we're lost?! We're supposed to be getting that stupid jewel now!" the girl yelled. The man crossed his arms, much like the girl but it seemed more feminine.

"Well you were the one supposed to find the coordinates." He said. The girl fumed, stamping her foot hard on his foot. He grabbed it and started to jump around holding it before stopping and looking at his nails. "Now look what you did, I ruined my manicure."

Then the girl turned, jumping when she saw our heroes.

"Eep! Trainers!" She exclaimed. "Quincey! Do something!"

"Rin, you have to help, dofus!" Quincey said, Rin groaned and grabbed a Poké ball.

"Back off trainers, you don't know what you're dealing with." Rin warned. Scarlet's hand drifted to her Poké ball.

"Yeah? Who are you then?" Indigo called. Rin smirked.

"That's for us to know, and you to not. Now move it!" She yelled. Quincey just nodded.

"Nah, don't feel like it." Auberon said, planting his feet on the ground. Rin gritted her teeth.

"Move your fat elfy ass or lose it, mister!" Auberon just stood there as Scarlet drew a Poké ball.

"Yes, move that elf butt of yours!" Quincey said.

"We'll move yours for ya!" Scarlet called, throwing Asher's Poké ball. The Charmander started giving the duo a death glare, making Quincey laugh.

"Oh yeah, a little Charmander in gonna beat us?" He sniggered. "Right, have you got a brain cell left in that little kiddie head of yours?"

"Oh shut up, Mr. Pink hair! Scarlet, do it." Indigo said, waving a dismissive hand at them. Scarlet giggled and looked at Asher.

"Ember." She said. Asher fired off the little embers at the duo, catching alight Quincey's hair. The man started to jump around, screaming in a high voice how much his hairdo had cost and that they would pay. Rin face palmed and gave him a look before staring back at our heroes. I almost, _almost_, feel sorry for her having to work with him.

"Quincey! We're leaving!" Rin yelled, grabbing him by his hair, not without protest from Quincey, and dragged him off.

"They were nice." Nevee said randomly. -.-; Everyone sweatdropped.

"Right...." Indigo said. "Well, I guess since we cleared the path yet again we can keep moving."

"Yup." Auberon said, walking ahead of the group. "Hurry up then!"

"Oh shut up, Auberon!" Scarlet called, running after him.

***

"My Beautiful hair!" Quincey said with a look of true horror on his face. Rin smacked him around the back of the head. "Stop ruining my hair more than it already is!"

"Oh stop fussing about your hair, we have a kid to find, remember?" Rin said. Quincey nodded. "Well, c'mon! They said he'll be camping somewhere out here."

"Why do we need to find him anyway?"

"Bet he has some strong Pokémon or something, duh! Maybe a Lucario, there aren't many Pokémon the bosses want." Rin replied with a shrug.

"Oh right, how many people have Lucario? Not many, so I doubt that it's a Lucario." Quincey replied. Rin just shrugged again and started to walk off.

A little way down their path a tent was set up just off the road. Outside of it sat a boy, around sixteen. He had eye length blonde hair and green eyes, dressed in a short sleeved green shirt and jeans, black sneakers sitting on the floor near his bag.

He sat stirring a pot of what I can guess is food, not concentrating on much but said food. A Growlithe sat by the side of his master, watching as he stirred.

"Growlithe! Ithe, Growlithe?" The Pokémon said. The boy looked to him.

"We will set out once I'm finished, Growlithe. I'm hungry." He replied. Growlithe sighed and lay his head on his paws, closing his eyes. "I'm not gonna be that long."

"Growl."

"Whatever, pal." The boy said. A little while later he finished what he was doing and packed up his tent before walking down the path with his Pokémon.

"There he is! He matches the description!" Came a voice. The boy turned and saw Rin and Quincey running toward him.

"Oh what now? Who the hell are they?" He said. They caught up to him soon after.

"You. Are. Coming. With. Us." Quincey panted. The boy folded his arms.

"And why would I do that?" He asked. Rin glared.

"That's none of your business' _Not that we know anyway_ 'And you don't need to know!" Rin said. "Now come with us!"

"No." The boys said simply. "Growlithe, flamethrower."

The fire type burnt the duo to a crisp.

"Goodbye." The boy said before walking off again.

"What just happened?" Quincey said.

***

"I am so gonna get you, Auberon!" Scarlet yelled. Zoom out and you see that she is currently slung over the elf like boy's shoulder.

"Suuure you are, Scarlet." Auberon replied. Behind them Indigo was giving the duo a weird look, whilst Nevee just skipped along, completely oblivious to what was going on.

Jaspa was walking whilst reading the VERY ANNOYING Pokémon magazine he had on the ship. Can you put that thing down for even a second?!

"No." Jaspa said. Why? "Because you asked." Damn.

"Jaspa, what is your problem?" Scarlet asked, giving up on her fruitless attempts to get off of Auberon's shoulder.

"I don't have a problem, Scarlet." Jaspa replied, still flicking through the magazine. Scarlet sighed and just let her head droop, looking at the fabric of Auberon's over T-shirt.

"Hey, there's a little dust mite community in here!" She said. Auberon let go of her ankles for a second, making her scream as she dropped a few inches before he caught her again. "AUBERON!"

"Sorry, my hands slipped." Auberon snickered. Indigo face-palmed.

"I really am the only mildly sane one here!" She yelled. I know! I can' believe one of you is sane! "*face-palm*"

"I'm sane!" Nevee protested, pouting.

"Sure, sure. Whatever makes you happy." Jaspa said. GASP! "What?" You were just concerned about her _happiness_! "Uh-... no I wasn't." I HAVE IT ON AUDIO TAPE! _No I don't, hehe! Don't tell him that!_ "Damn."

Just then Auberon bumped head first into someone, making him fall backwards, landing on Scarlet, who promptly screamed.

"AUBERON! MY FACE IS IN YOUR BUTT!" She screamed. Auberon jumped up, leaving Scarlet laying on her back, upside down, in the dirt. "I hate you." Who? Me or Auberon? "Both." OK.

"Sorry." Auberon said to the elder boy he had bumped into. When you look at him you see the same blonde boy from earlier.

"It doesn't matter, oh! I must warn you, there are a duo of idiots up there. Tried to kidnap me for my Pokémon or something." The boy said.

"Did one have pink hair streaks?" Auberon asked. The boy nodded.

"We bumped into them earlier, they're wimps." Scarlet said, having recovered from what I think must have been a traumatising experience (AKA face stuck in Auberon's ass).

"Yes, they are."

"HEY! Nobody walks away from us after we say they're coming with us! Especially not after burning us!" Rin yelled, stomped toward them, still burnt. Scarlet and Auberon face-palmed at the same time.

"HI!" Nevee yelled, waving. Jaspa groaned.

"They're the enemy, Nevee." Scarlet reminded her.

"Oh yeah!" Nevee gasped, clapping afterwards. *head-desk* YOU ARE ACTING LIKE MY SIMS!

The newest troublesome duo in town stormed over to them, Rin holding a Poké ball.

"Hey kid, you aren't gettin' away." Quincey said. Rin growled.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" The boy chuckled. "I could wipe the floor with your Pokémon."

"Oh yeah?! Just try it!" Rin snarled. Girl, you need to get anger management classes.

"I will." The boy said. "Growlithe-..."

Suddenly he was interrupted when

Gareth: Prepare for trouble, don't steal our role!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, we're taking control!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"You can't steal our role, whoever you are!" Gwen yelled, fists clenched and the vein on her temple showing.

"We're Team Universal Aura, who are _you_?" Quincey asked, arms folded over his chest.

"We are Team Rocket, the owners of this turf, so back off!" Gareth replied. "Team Rocket-..."

"Actually, if I remember correctly, Team Rocket don't have control over Sinnoh, in fact, no one does. So, we claim this 'turf' for Team Universal Aura!" Rin smirked.

"We'll see 'bout dat!" Meowth hissed. "Fury Swipes!"

"Go Dustox!" Gwen called.

"Go Mr. Mime!" Gareth said.

"Go Rhyhorn!" Rin said.

"Go Jigglypuff!" Quincey called. O.o

"What-..." Scarlet started.

"...-the-..." Auberon and Indigo said.

"COOKIES!" Nevee exclaimed, cue everyone falling over anime style. Nevee? "Yeah?" Have you had your medication? "What medication?!" That explains it...

"Rhyhorn, use Horn Drill." Rin said simply. The rhino like Pokémon's horn spun and he charged at Mr. Mime and Dustox.

"RUN!" Meowth screamed, grabbing his teammates sleeves and running off, the Pokémon following.

"Growlithe, use flamethrower on both teams." The mysterious boy said. Growlithe nodded and did as he was told, firing off two separate flamethrowers at the two teams, both yelped and a second later...

"Who thought we would ever be reduced to _this_?" Rin groaned, gesturing to the lack of earth beneath their feet. Quincey looked down.

"Who cares about _that_?! My hair is all messed up!" Quincey exclaimed. Rin face palmed.

A few feet over to the left:

"Not again!" Gwen sighed. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"Because it happened to our parents and our grandparents and probably our _great_-grandparents too." Gareth answered. I don't think it goes that far back, dear... did I just say dear? Oh dear lord...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

GOOD RIDDANCE!

"Well... that was, random." Scarlet said. Auberon nodded, then turning to where the boy had been.

"Thanks dude... what's ya n-... hey! Where's he gone?" Auberon exclaimed, everyone turned and saw that, in fact, the mysterious blonde teen had gone.

"What the...?" Indigo muttered.

"He's a _magician!_" Nevee giggled, doing her weird little clap dance again. Stop. Acting. Like. A. Sim! She continued to clap. GAH!

***

**Me: How wazzat? Well, thanks to Pokémon2471 for the OC! Here is his profile, minus his name and Pokémon!**

**Name: You're not allowed to know yet!  
Nickname: N/A  
****Age: 16  
Date of birth: May 13 2022  
Hometown: Cerulean City  
Hair Style: Hair length to eyes, blond  
Eyes: Green  
Clothes: Green short sleeve shirt, jeans, black sneakers  
occupation: Trainer  
personality: strong trainer, likeable, mysterious  
Family: Twin Brother, Nick Target  
Pokémon: Starter was a Growlithe. No more info for you!  
Future Pokémon: Not telling!  
Goals: No real goals just going around  
Crush: Not sure  
Back story: Parents left him and his brother at the age of 10 when they both went on their journeys. Haven't heard from them since. So that is where he gets the mysterious part of him from. He is very close to his brother. He has beaten every gym there is and only has beaten the Johto League.  
****Well, R&R!**


	5. Ep 4: Contest Debut, rivals due

**Me: This chapter we welcome two of my best reader's OC! Legendary fairy was the creator of Francesco and Alessandra in the prequel, and this time it's the last characters' children! It also features Stormleaf312's OC!**

**Episode 4- Contest Debut, rivals due.**

**"After a very strange encounter with a group that calls themselves 'Team Universal Aura' our heroes are now well on their way to Jubilife City, where Scarlet will compete in her first contest!"**

"Nevee, hate to burst your bubble but I don't think Sophie can actually hear you." Scarlet said. Nevee shook her head.

"Yes she can! She just said that she wants cookies!" Nevee protested. "Sorry Sophie, Auberon ate all our cookies."

"O...K...." Auberon said, his face still covered in crumbs from said cookies. She has a point with that bit, wipe them off, elfy! Auberon grumbled but reached up and brushed the crumbs off.

"How far is left?" Scarlet asked Jaspa, who was currently in charge of the map. Jaspa looked at the said map closely.

"We should arrive in about ten minutes." He replied. "Ten minutes and thirty three seconds to be exact."  
"Know it all." Scarlet mumbled. Jaspa ignored her.

"Hey guys, don't those two ahead of us look familiar?" Indigo pointed out, pointing at a pair ahead of the group. Go up to them and find out, duh! "Bossy big mouth!" Just do it.

They did eventually do as I said, not that they had a choice to be honest, and went up to the duo ahead of them.

"Um, hi?" Scarlet said. The two turned.

The girl had wrist long, honey coloured hair in a ponytail tied by a blue ribbon, the same shade blue as her eyes. She was dressed in a red T-shirt, a blue jacket, pink skirt, black gloves and white socks and shoes.

The boy had messy, honey brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and jacket with red cargo pants white socks and black shoes.

"Hey, it's Kirara and Lance!" Auberon said.

"I knew I recognised them." Indigo smiled. Kirara smiled at the group.

"Hi guys! I didn't think you guys would be in Sinnoh, what happened to going around Kanto? And Elf, I told you before, it's _Kira!_" she said.

"Blame Big Mouth." Jaspa said. That is actually the first time you haven't called me 'voice'.

"So, you headin' for the contest?" Lance asked. "We've been out here a week waiting to go in for the contest, but some weirdoes just won't get out of the way of the entrance. Others have managed to sneak through the trees, but we keep getting caught."

"We need to get in for the contest, so we'll help." Indigo said.

"We will?" Jaspa said. Nevee elbowed him.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"You're kidding, right?" Scarlet said with a blank look on her face. The weirdoes at the entrance to Jubilife both had purple hair in a spiked up style. Both were male and wearing the same sort of outfit as Quincey, but they had a black jacket on over the top of the purple t-shirt.

"Not them again." Auberon groaned. "They're idiots! They should be easy to beat."

"Are you sure? There have been a good few go against them, they haven't lasted long." Lance said. Scarlet shrugged, walking toward them.

"Oh crap it's the kid that helped beat Rin and Quincey! Leg it!" The one grunt exclaimed, running away. The other looked alarmed before following.

"Well... that was..." Kirara started. "BIG MOUTH!" Oops! I mean _Kira_ started.

"Weird?" Indigo suggested. Kira nodded.

"Come on, let's just go in." Jaspa said, a slight agitated tone to his voice. Lance sighed.

"You haven't changed at all." He said. Jaspa huffed and walked up the three steps and officially entered Jubilife. Everyone shrugged and followed.

***

"Thank you Nurse Joy!" Scarlet smiled, running back to her friends whilst waving her contest pass around. "I got it!"

"We can see that, Scarlet." Jaspa said, still flicking through the magazine that I am very tempted to rip up! "Whatever." GAH!

"Calm, big mouth, calm." Kira said. Shut up. "Just trying to help."

"So, why are you back in Sinnoh? I thought you already went through the league." Auberon asked. Lance shrugged.

"Kira didn't beat mom, she wants another shot at it." Lance replied.

"I sure as hell do! I want to beat mom, and I'm not gonna stop until I do!" Kira said with a confident and determined look on her face. "This time round I will win!"

"You gonna make it past the top eight this time then?" Lance said. Kira slumped.

"Gee, thanks for pointing that out." She said sarcastically. Everyone sweatdropped.

"You gotta get past me and Auberon too, this time." Indigo said.

"Well that'll be the easy part." Kira said. Auberon narrowed his eyes.

"Real nice." He said. Scarlet gave him a look.

"So, Lance, you'll be entering the contests again?" Scarlet then asked, turning to look at the boy. Lance nodded.

"Yep. Its slightly annoying considering I've done the contests here before. I want some variety." He replied, giving his twin a slight side-glare. Kira just shrugged.

"I can't wait to compete! I may only have Asher but he is gonna kick ass!" Scarlet said assertively. "Mom kicked ass with her starter... oh my god! I forgot to call mom!"

Scarlet the disappeared leaving a smoke trail behind her.

"I guess we better follow her lead, we haven't called our parents either." Indigo said.

"Yay! I can't wait to see how the baby's doing! Come on Jas!" Nevee cheered, pulling her brother with all her might until he came off the chair and was dragged behind her.

"Gemma is Pregnant again?" Kira asked Indigo and Auberon.

"Yup. They did always want kids, according to Mom anyway. Once Walter apparently even admitted wanting to give her babies to everyone." Auberon said.

"That's strange." Lance said. Kira just raised an eyebrow (not that again!!!!).

"We're off to call our parents, if you've been waiting to get in a week you may want to do the same." Indigo said as she ran to follow her friends.

***

"I was getting worried, Scarlet." Ruby said. Scarlet sighed.

"Mom, you left it longer than I did on your first time leaving, so don't have a go." She reminded. Ruby shrugged.

"I know, but a mother can't help but worry." Ruby smiled. Scarlet grinned back.

"It's really fun travelling. We bumped into Kirara and Lance on the way here."

"IT'S KIRA!" Kira yelled from somewhere. Scarlet sweatdropped.

"Yeah..." She said. Ruby giggled.

"So, what Pokémon did you end up picking?" Ruby asked her daughter. Scarlet's face went back to a large smile. She reached down and opened her Poké ball, Asher popped out and jumped onto her lap.

"This is Asher! My Charmander, mom." Scarlet beamed. Ruby chuckled.

"He doesn't talk does he?"

"No... not that I know of. Don't jinx it!" Scarlet said frantically. Asher just looked at his trainer with confused eyes.

"You haven't been plagued with big mouth's TR crap have ya?" Torchix said, appearing from nowhere. So _that's_ where they got 'big mouth' from!

"Yup, I have." Scarlet said, popping her lips on the 'p'. "That and some creeps called 'Team Universal Aura'."

"If I could get to Viridian this second, Gem would be dead." (*gulp*) Ruby said, looking up at the sky (aka me!).

***

"You're having fun then, are you?" Pearl asked. Indigo nodded her head.

"Definitely! Jaspa is a bit of a spoilsport, but I can ignore him most of the time." Indigo replied. Pearl smirked.

"Why would you want to ignore Jaspa?" She asked cheekily. Indigo blushed.

"MOM!" She exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one heard. "What is that supposed to mean?!" she added in a hiss.

"You know what it means, dear." Pearl smiled. "You like him."

"Shut up." Indigo said. "If dad hears you then Jaspa is dead."  
"Your father isn't that protective, dudette!" Leaf grinned as he appeared on screen. "Hey kiddo."

"Hey dad." Indigo smiled. "How's home anyway?"  
"Quiet, very quiet." Leaf said. "I almost miss ya!"

"Dad!" Indigo pouted. Leaf chuckled, arm over Pearl's shoulder.

"Oh yeah! One thing, Dax sent us an e-mail, it seems you may bump into him, he's in Sinnoh." Pearl said. Indigo's face fell.

"I thought he was in Johto!" She exclaimed. Leaf shrugged.

"He changed his mind when he got on his ship, it went to Sinnoh first so he got off there." Leaf replied. Indigo's face dropped more, she looked down and started to twiddle her thumbs. Her Mudkip looked up at her with worried eyes.

***

"Nevee, you can let go of your brother's arm now." Gemma said. Nevee's mouth went into an 'o' shape and she dropped Jaspa's arm. Jaspa rubbed the patch she had been holding and hissed.

"Thank you!" Jaspa snapped. Nevee just smiled at him, Gemma gave them a look which stopped what they were doing.

"How's the journey so far?" She asked. Nevee grinned, Jaspa groaned.

"It's really fun/boring." They said in unison.

"Jaspa, lighten up." Walter said as he took a seat next to his wife. Nevee's face lit up even more.

"Daddy!" she giggled. Walter laughed.

"Hello Eevee." He said. Nevee smiled, Jaspa groaned again. "Jaspa, what did I just say? Anyway, anything much happen?"  
"We met a gay." Jaspa said.

"Jaspa!" Gemma scolded. Jaspa shrugged.

"What, he was. He was fussing about his hair, high voice and had pink hair streaks." Jaspa protested. Walter nodded.

"I have to agree with him there, Gemma." He said to his heavily pregnant wife. Gemma nodded.

"Me too." She agreed. "How did you meet him?"

"Not exactly meet... more like Scarlet kicked his and his teammate's asses. From some group called 'Team Universal Aura' or something like that." Jaspa said.

"They were funny." Nevee giggled.

"Have you been having your meds?" Jaspa asked her, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. Nevee glared at him.

"Have you Nevee?" Walter asked. Nevee dropped her head.

***

"You made your move on Scarlet yet?" Matthew smirked. Auberon blushed.

"Dad! It's supposed to be moms who ask that crap that was why I don't wanna speak to mom! Why do I even bother callin'?" Auberon said.

"Sorry son, your mom made me." Matthew said.

"Don't pin that on me, Matthew!" Yellow called from some unseen room. Matthew chuckled nervously whilst his elf like son sweatdropped.

"How's the journey?" Matthew then asked.

"Its fine. Big mouth is evil though." Auberon said with a shrug.

"We all know that. What'd she do? Only mention you twice?" I said sorry for that every year for the past twenty years, dude!

"Nah, she made Team Rocket come back, every chapter." You get a break from them this chapter... I think. "Real reassuring."

"Is Jaspa being a bastard still?" Matthew asked.

"Matthew!" Yellow yelled.

"Sorry dear!" the gym leader called back. He then said in a hushed tone: "Is he?"  
"Yes. He just won't lighten up!" Auberon said. "All he does is read that damn magazine."

***

Auberon walked out of the phone cubicle, closing the door behind him and then turning to walk off, only to bump into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, looking at the person. It was a girl. She had long curly orange hair with a green ribbon and green eyes, wearing black leather jacket, green tank top and white slim jeans and green and white sneakers.

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't your fault." She smiled. Auberon smiled back. "Are you finished using the booth?"

"Yep, I sure am..." He trailed off where he would put her name. The girl smiled.

"Alice." She said. Auberon nodded.

"I sure am Alice." He said. Alice giggled shyly.

"Well, I need to use the booth." She said, gesturing to the fact he was still in front of the door. Auberon nodded, both stepped one way, then the other. Eventually they stepped in opposite directions and Alice stood in front of the booth door. "Nice meeting you..."

"Auberon."

"Nice meeting you Auberon." Alice said. "Maybe we'll bump into each other somewhere else."

"Well, my friend is competing in the contest." Auberon said.

"Me too! So maybe I'll bump into you there." Alice said, holding out her hand. Auberon shook it.

"Maybe." He replied, then turning to walk off, waving back. Alice smiled, a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

***

**_"Welcome to this years' Jubilife Pokémon Contest! We welcome our judges... Mr. Contesta!_****" **Lillian announced. What the hell?! Do you contest people no age or something?! "No, we don't." Oh my god.

**_"Very glad to be here." _**Mr. Contesta smiled. You should be! You must be over a hundred by now!

**_"And Mr. Sukizo!" _**

**_"Remarkable to be here."_** Seems your thesaurus hasn't gotten bigger with age.

**_"And Nurse Joy!"_**

**_"Very pleasured to be judging this contest."_** Oh for goodness sake! I'm sure you Nurse Joy all have that saying embedded in your skulls at birth!

"I have to agree with you there." Scarlet said. She is dressed in a knee length red dress that had straps holding it up, and a ribbon tied around it under the chest. She had red flats on her feet. How would you know? "Mom." Oh yeah.

...there really isn't much to say on the coordinator's lobby, man it is so boring in there when there's only one of the group-...

"Is that Dax?" Scarlet said, pointing to a bluenette in a tux on the other side of the room. Um, yeah, I believe it is! That's... convenient. "Shall I go talk to him?" If you want... I don't know if he's like his real dad or not. "You write his mini profile." Oh yeah! "Wait, where is Lance?"

"Here! Sorry, couldn't find the outfit." Lance called as he ran in. **(I can't yet tell what it is, Legendary Fairy seems to have forgotten to send it, either that or I lost the data.)**

"'bout time! Sheesh, man." Scarlet said. I thought you'd be girlier than this, Scarlet. "Nah."

"Has she announced the first one up yet?" Lance asked. Scarlet shook her head.

"Nope, she's still going on about all the technical s-..." IF YOU FINISH THAT SCENTENCE YOU DIE! "I was gonna say... sausage!" You are as bad as your mom!

"I recognise that blue head over there." Lance said. Well duh! We just said it was Dax! "I wasn't here when you did, big mouth." Not you too!

**_"First up is Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!"_** Lillian announced.

"WHAT?!" Scarlet exclaimed. Hehe, I guess I gave you the wrong number. "I hate you with a passion." I know. "Grrr...."

***

"Go Asher!" Scarlet called as she ran on. Her Poké ball burst open and her starter burst out surrounded by hearts, making him sweatdrop. Asher landed on his feet with ease. "Use Sunny Day and then Ember!"

The sun started to glow even brighter than it had earlier, unusual for Sinnoh, and Asher then fired off ember. The said attack seemed to gravitate around Asher, floating in a circle around his waist.

"Now use Scratch!" Scarlet ordered. Asher scratched at all the embers, making them explode and sparkle around him. "Finish!" Asher jumped and the landed doing a peace sign with a wink.

"Amazing performance." Contesta said. "Could have done with being longer though." That's my fault, sir! "Alright..."

"Remarkable!" Do you want your head attached to your shoulders? "Yes." THEN STOP SAYING REMARKABLE! He gulped.

"I think that was very beautiful." Nurse joy smiled... do you see why I hate contests now? They have way to much repetition.

"Thank you!" Scarlet smiled before reaching to return her Pokémon. Asher didn't like that though, and jumped out of the way of the beam. "Asher!" She tried again, same result. As she continued to try the judge's faces seemed to drop. Eventually Scarlet just ran out and grabbed Asher, forcing him into the ball. "So sorry!" She said with a bow before running off stage. _Dammit! There is no way I'm getting through now!_

***

"That was great, Scarlet." Lance said reassuringly as the red eyed girl ran in.

"No it wasn't, I just ruined whatever chance I had with Asher's little stunt." She said sadly, sitting down on one of the many benches. Lance sat next to her.

"You'll go through, they expect that from a rookie." Scarlet narrowed her eyes at him.

"Really reassuring." She hissed. Lance waved his hands defensively.

**_"Now we have Dax Sketchit!"_**

***

"Dax is here?" Auberon said once they heard the announcements. Indigo felt her face pale. "I thought you said he was in Johto?"

"So did I, turns out he changed his mind according to mom and dad." Indigo said in a small voice.

"Dax is strange!" Nevee said. Says the loony girl who _still_ hasn't taken her meds.

"Dax was always a bit of a ladies' man, he's more sane than you guys though." Kirar- I mean Kira said. I agree.

"For goodness sake." Jaspa grumbled. "Why am I even here?" just get out that damn magazine and read it then!

As the bluenette walked on stage, Indigo felt her frame start to shake.

_Relax, he doesn't know you're here._ She kept telling herself. But then he looked very deliberately at her, a smirk on his face. _Oh god he saw me._

***

**Me: How wazzat? If ya lucky I may get another chapter out today, but that's a big _MAYBE_. K?**

**Here are the two newbie's profiles, I'll give Alice's next chapter:**

**Name: Lance Piaggesi.  
Nickname: N(A  
Age: 11  
Hair: messy honey brown hair.  
Eyes: blue  
Personality: Friendly, calm and gentle, the exact opposite of Kira about being Outgoing and rushy.  
Clothes: Blue T-shirt, Black jacket, Blue gloves, red cargo pants, white socks and black shoes.  
Pokémon: Bulbasaur(Flora), his starter and female. Likes her master.  
Eevee (Aqua), female. His second Pokémon received from his father.  
Future Pokémon:  
Occupation: Pokémon Coordinator  
Family:  
Alessandra 'Alex' Cesarini/Piaggesi, age ???(Well, when it'll be in the sequel), Top Coordinator and Sinnoh Champion  
Francesco Piaggesi, a Prof. helping Gary Oak at the lab  
Kirara 'Kira' Piaggesi, age 10 and twin. Will be a Pokémon Researcher and Trainer.  
Goal: Wants to become a Pokémon Coordinator famous like his mother.**

**Back Story: Lance is the son of Francesco and Alessandra Piaggesi and also twin of Kirara Piaggesi. Having as father a Pokémon Researcher and mother a Sinnoh Champion and a Top Coordinator he grown attached to Pokémon and to age 10 she choose a Bulbasaur as starter and together to Kira they started to travel around Sinnoh. Lance wants to become a Top Coordinator like her mother but for now he has only two ribbons and his team is composed from a Ivyasaur, a Vaporeon, a Dustox, a Gloom and a just caught Gible. For his 11th birthday his father sent him a Poke Ball that contains his Torterra's son, Terra the Turtwig. And now he's ready as ever to conquer the Sinnoh Grand Festival**

**Name: Kirara Piaggesi.  
Nickname: Kira(Likes being called this name)  
Age: 11  
Hair: Wrist-long hair honey hair tied in a ponytail with a blue ribbon  
Eyes: blue  
Personality: Outgoing and a little rushy. She's always energetic and all but can demonstrate a incredible calm.  
Clothes: Red T-shirt, blue jacket, black gloves, pink skirt, white socks and shoes.  
Pokémon: Charmander (Fire), her starter and male. Like his master.  
Eevee (Thunder), male. Her second Pokémon received from her mother.  
Future Pokémon:  
Occupation: Pokémon Researcher and Trainer  
Family:  
Alessandra 'Alex' Cesarini/Piaggesi  
Francesco Piaggesi  
Lance Piaggesi, age 10 and twin. Will be a Pokémon Coordinator.**

**Back Story: Kira is the daughter of Francesco and Alessandra Piaggesi and also twin of Lance Piaggesi. Having as father a Pokémon Researcher and mother a Sinnoh Champion and a Top Coordinator she grown attached to Pokémon and to age 10 she choose a Charmander as starter and together to Lance they started to travel around Sinnoh. Kira wants to become a Pokémon Researcher and the Sinnoh Champion and she manages to arrive to the Pokémon League but since her Team isn't still full trained (She had a Chameleon, a Jolteon, a Beautifly, a Roselia and a Lucario) her mother defeated her with only losing two Pokémon. Kira promised to her mother to continue to train and that when she'll return she'll beat her. For her 11th birthday her mother sent her a Poke Ball that contains her Infernape's son, Inferno the Chimchar. And now she decided to take on the gyms again to train her Pokémon.**


	6. Ep 5: No, no secrets here

****

Me: And here we go! Alice appears more in this chapter, and we have Lance's, Alice's and Dax's (*snarls*) performances! Here we go! I will be dropping hints as to Dax's father in this.

**Episode 5- No, no secrets here.**

**"The contest has begun, and it's safe to say the result is currently hard to tell. Scarlet had a bit of a mishap, so who knows what will happen? I sure as hell haven't been told!"**

"Go Roselia." Dax said. The thorn Pokémon appeared surrounded by rose petals, doing a 360o spin before landing on her feet. "Use Bullet Seed."

Roselia leapt up in the air, firing off the seeds at the ground, carving a rose shape into the field.

"Now use Grass Whistle, weak though." Dax instructed. Roselia started to sing a beautiful song, as she did so making magical leaf appear around her. A few people looked drowsy but the sleeping effect seemed to have disappeared.

"Another amazing performance!" Contesta said.

"Remarkable and fantastic!" That's a start I suppose.

"Beautiful." Same to you.

Dax bowed and walked off stage.

* * *

"He was good." Scarlet awed before her face fell. "I'll never get through now." Lance patted her back.

"You will, have faith."

A few performances later and a face familiar to us appeared on stage. A girl with long, curly ginger hair and green eye ran on in light green dress that reaches her knees with a Daisy in her hair.

**_"And here we have Alice Shadow!"_** Lillian announced.

"Come and help me, Storm!" Alice called, throwing her Poké ball and revealing a Squirtle. He spun out in his shell before showing one leg and arm at a time before popping his head out, bubbles surrounding him. "Use Bubble!"  
Storm pulled into his shell, and then started spinning around, bubbles coming from the holes in the shell. **(This is how I remember it from May's contests, correct me if I'm wrong.)**

The artificial and real bubbles mixed together.

"Now use Water Gun!" Alice called. Storm stopped the bubble attack and popped back out of its shell, firing water gun. All the bubbles popped, making sparkles.

"Very well done!" Contesta said. Yes! You said something other than amazing performance!

"R-... magnificent!" YAY!

"Great show." YESSS! Thank you for listening to me! Do you see what I mean about the characters that I _don't_ own don't hate me?

* * *

_Up in the stands..._

Um, Jaspa? Why are you wearing glasses?

"Because I need them." Jaspa replied. WHAT!?! Since WHEN?! "Since forever." You never tell me _anything_!

"She was good." Auberon said. "I saw her yesterday, she seems a nice girl."

"She does seems to be ever so slightly more experienced than Scarlet." Kirar-... Kira said. "Is my name gonna be a running gag?" Maybe. "I hate you already." DAMMIT! Not another one!

"I hope Scarlet makes it through." Indigo said. "She did so well, I feel like smacking that damn Charmander."

"He wasn't to know!" Nevee pouted. "He's too cute to be smart! Just like my Eevee and Cynders!" She then grabbed her Poké balls and hugged them. (-_-;) Everyone had a similar reaction to _that_. ß

**_"Now we have our first break! Go buy, buy, buy! Come give your competing friends some encouragement too!"_**

"C'mon! Let's go see Scarlet!" Nevee cheered running off. Everyone's sweatdrops returned. Jaspa, go give your sister her medication will you?

"Whatever." Jaspa muttered, putting the magazine away and walking after her with his hands in his pockets.

* * *

"Scarlet, that was great." Indigo assured. They were all now gathered in the coordinators lobby, Nevee didn't seem to have calmed though... did she get her medication?

"No." Jaspa replied simply. Why? "She jumped out of the way." Damn.

"I'm not getting through, face it pal." Scarlet said, shrugging her friend's hand off her shoulder and slumping in her seat. Auberon looked at her sadly.

"Auberon!" Someone called. Turning the elf like boy saw Alice, waving at him with a shy smile. Auberon looked at his friends before running over to talk to her. Scarlet felt her heart pang slightly as she watched him talk to Alice, like she wasn't there.

Thinking better of her thoughts she shook them from her head, looking at Asher's Poké ball. Indigo noticed, sitting by her. Scarlet sighed.

Jaspa just pulled out his bloody magazine and sat on an empty chair whilst someone stupidly asked Nevee to hold their coffee... she drank it. Now she is _literally_ bouncing off the walls.

Indigo felt her heart skip a beat (the bad way) when she saw her half-brother leaning against a wall, staring intently at her with that charming glint in his eyes. She didn't find it charming in the slightest.

"Indigo?" Scarlet asked. Indigo looked at her friend. "Are you OK? The others said you went all weird when Harry appeared."

"I'm fine." Indigo lied. Are you sure, Indigo? You do seem off. "Are you actually showing concern?" Yes. "I'm fine." I have to write everything I see remember. "Shut up." OK, OK, I'll just get into your mind. Oh dear....

"Are you sure? Remember, no secrets." Scarlet said. Indigo smiled, nodding.

"No, no secrets here." Indigo assured. Scarlet smiled.

**_"Please will all guests return to their seats! The contest will start with Lance Piaggesi in one minute!"_** Lillian's voice boomed. Indigo stood and grabbed onto Nevee's arm, dragging the bouncy girl back to the bleachers. Her smile dropped once out of the lobby.

Auberon gave Alice a friendly hug before running toward the door, stopping at Scarlet. "Good luck."

"Why would you care?" Scarlet snapped. She obviously felt the tension Indigo had left behind. Auberon frowned and walked out.

* * *

"Flora, let's go!" Lance called, throwing his Poké ball. A Bulbasaur popped out, surrounded by pink petals. I will now tell you that Lance is in the same outfit as Ash in the Wallace cup. "Use Sleep Powder and Poison powder, keep it to the field!"

White powder and purple powder started to fall from the sky, mixing together. It didn't coven Flora, staying to the sides of her.

"Now use vine whip!" Lance said. Flora threw vines out to her sides, eyes closed. The green vines sliced a line through each of the towers of falling powder. The attacks then fell to the ground, vines pulled back in.

"Very well done!"

"Magnificent!"

"Lovely."

* * *

"You did great, Lance!" Scarlet grinned as he walked back in. Lance smiled.

"Thanks, I think it was OK... not sure about great though." He said. Scarlet just giggled. The two sat talking until it was time for that fateful time, time to see who gets through.

**_"Sorry for the long wait, guys! Here are the lucky eight going through!" _**Lillian announced. Everyone's eyes turned to the screen.

One picture turned over, Alice. Alice cheered inwardly, smiling lightly at Storm.

The next picture, Dax. Dax had no reaction, he just stayed leaning against the wall, eyes closed.

The next three were random people who all cheered aloud.

The next was Lance, he high-fived Scarlet, grinning widely.

The next was a girl with long white hair and bright blue eyes. **(One of you knows who this is!)**

The last card to turn over seemed to take hours, seconds went slowly, Scarlet could feel tension as she waited to see if she got through.

Then, it did. The card flipped... Scarlet's face wasn't on it.

Scarlet's anxious expression dropped into a blank one, the information not having sunk in.

"Scarlet?" Lance said, peering at his friend's face. This snapped the scarlet eyed girl from her thoughts, she looked once at her friend before running out of the contest hall, crying.

You getting a sense of déjà vu? I am!

"Shut up." Lance said. Why does every character in this story hate me?! God's sake...

By the entrance to the lobby Auberon had just ran down, hoping to talk to Scarlet about the result, only to see her run out. Gritting his teeth he ran after her.

"Scarlet!" He called. Alice watched him go, smiling lightly at his dedication to his friends. Oh man! Here comes a love triangle...

* * *

Scarlet sat on a bench outside the contest hall, eyes shut and tears seeping from the corners. Her legs were hugged to her chest, arms wrapped around them, dabbing her eyes every few seconds.

"Scarlet! Scarlet-... Scarlet?" Auberon said as he stopped just outside the contest hall door, seeing his friend on the bench. His heart skipped a beat seeing her in her most vulnerable state. "Scarlet?" He repeated, running over and sitting on the bench next to her, putting an arm over her shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Shh..."

"It's my fault. I should have controlled Asher better." Scarlet sobbed. Auberon rubbed her shoulder, making the girl blush.

"We're only rookies, Vampal' Scarlet couldn't stop her giggle at her old nickname 'Plus your family has a running history of Poké ball hate, and hating the authoress." Ash and May didn't hate me! "That's because you didn't talk to them." Oh, right.

"I'll be OK. God I'm a wimp." Scarlet sighed. Auberon shook his head.

"You're not." He assured. "I better go tell the others you're OK..."

"No, wait with me a bit. Please?" Scarlet asked. Auberon smiled.

"OK."

**_Later that day..._**

Lance... didn't win.

"Don't rub it in!" Lance said, sitting in a slump at the Poké centre. Sorry!  
"Ah well, ya did better than me." Scarlet said. Has anyone seen Nevee?

"HI YA!" Nevee giggled, popping up behind her brother and almost giving him a panic attack. "Eve is realllllly fun to play with!"

"Good to know. Have we got a room booked?" Indigo asked. Nevee nodded, waving a key around.

"You gotta catch me to get it." She teased, sticking her tongue out. Scarlet, you go after her. You have the never ending stamina. Scarlet groaned but ran after her.

"Well, Spoilsport and I can go to our room, we'll cya in the morning!" Auberon said, dragging said sour puss out of the room and up the stairs.

"We'll be off to our room too." Lance and Kirar-... Kira said, walking off. Indigo groaned.

"I could be here a while." I would leave, but I made a vow. Never leave you alone! "I thought that was about Mom and stuff?" I carried it over.

* * *

Indigo quietly shut the door behind her, Nevee being asleep and wanting to save Scarlet the torture of being alone in a room with a conscious Nevee, _who still hasn't had her bloody medication!_

Slowly she took a few quiet steps down the hall, only going about a foot toward her goal, the drinking fountain. She wasn't a big fan of tap water. As she came to the end of that foot she heard a cough behind her. Freezing on the spot she felt her heart beat faster in panic. Slowly she turned, and there was her half-brother, standing in his baggy PJs behind her.

"Dax." She said shakily.

"Indigo, nice to see you." Dax said.

"Wish I could say the same." Dax smirked at her, taking a step closer.

Ever since Indigo had found out about where Dax really came from, not _her_ father, she had been more distant from him. When she was young they were close, really close. Their friendship was only bested by her friendship with Scarlet. Then she was told. Dax's father was none other than Harry Blackthorne, Pearl's trainerhood rival and also trainerhood stalker. Pearl was... Indigo didn't want to think the word... a few days before she was married to Leaf, someone who truly loved her. Dax saw what he did as a kind of punishment to her for turning her back on him when she learnt the truth.

"Now, now, sister dear. No need to be so mean." Dax said as he walked right up to her. Indigo gulped. Dax put a hand on her chin, making her look up at him. Slowly he lifted his other hand, palm flat, Indigo braced herself.

"Dax? Indigo?" Scarlet's voice rang. Dax gave Indigo a look saying 'you're lucky this time' and turned to the coordinator.

"Yes?" He said. Scarlet smiled.

"Oh, it is you. Sorry, got a bit confused. Thought you were someone else or something for a second. Indigo, how long does it take to go to the water fountain?"

"I got stopped by Dax, we got talking." Indigo lied. "I'll be there in a moment."

Scarlet smiled, Dax smirked. "I'll be off." Said the latter. "I need to sleep."

With that he was off. Scarlet ducked back into the room, Indigo sprinted to the fountain, taking her drink before running back to the room, hopping into her bed and looking curiously at Scarlet.

"W-Whatcha doin?" She asked. Scarlet smiled, not noticing her stutter.

"Drawing. I got the art gene from mom, wanna see?" Scarlet asked. Indigo walked over, looking at the paper.

"Wow." She said. Scarlet grinned. On the paper was a picture of all the group, Jasper being his usual self, Scarlet and Auberon play fighting, Indigo face-palming and Nevee being... Nevee.

"All of us, we're in this together, no secrets, remember?" Scarlet smiled. Indigo nodded, her heart beating that much faster.

**Me: A slightly depressing chapter, but it's up! Alice's and Dax's profile's comin at ya!  
****  
Name: Alice Shadow**

**Nickname: just Alice or Ally**

**Age: 11**

**DOB: March 12th, 2028**

**Hometown: Olivine city**

**Hair: Long curly orange hair with a green ribbon in her hair**

**Eyes: green**

**Cloths: Black leather jacket, green tank top and white slim jeans and green and white sneakers. Contest- Light green dress that reaches her knees with a Daisy in her hair**

**Occupation: Coordinator/trainer**

**Personality: shy, quiet, modest, calm, smart, friendly, funny, quick thinker, and brave**

**Family: Julie Shadow, mother**

**Nate Shadow, father**

**Rex Shadow, brother**

**Pokémon: Storm (Squirtle, male)**

**Blaze (Chimchar, male)**

**Molly (Meowth, female)-fav Pokémon **

**Future Pokémon: **

**Goals: To become top coordinator **

**Crush: Auberon!**

**Back-story: Alice's mother Julie was a great coordinator and she wants to follow in her mother's footsteps but she also doesn't mind battling since her brother Rex is a gym leader.**

**Name: Dax Sketchit**

**Nickname: To me it's a bad word, real bad. **

**Age: 13**

**DOB: 25/5/2025**

**Hometown: Pallet Town**

**Hair: Short and neat, bluenette**

**Eyes: Green**

**Clothes: White Dress shirt and dress pants. Contest- Tuxedo**

**Occupation: Coordinator  
Personality: ****Abusive, Aggressive, Antisocial, Audacious, Charming, Cocky, Defiant, Dishonest, Narcissist.  
****Family: Step Father, Leaf Sketchit**

**Mother, Pearl Sketchit**

**Half-Sister, Indigo Sketchit**

**Father, Harry Blackthorne**

**Pokémon: Roselia, female**

**Prinplup, male**

**Absol, male  
Future Pokémon: Umm....**

**Goals: Probably something selfish.**

**Crush: No one, he's a player. **

**Back-story: He is the damn product of a r*** on Pearl before she was married and before Indigo was born. Harry is his father. Despite many questions Pearl and Leaf kept him, they know nothing of his true colours. **


	7. Ep 6: Tunnel Misadventure

**Me: READ THIS OR YOU WILL BE GREATLY CONFUSED!!!!! Ok, now I have your attention... Legendary Fairy reminded me, Flora is supposed to be an Ivyasaur, and all the Pokémon on her OCs profiles were wrong, oops! I will put the real lists now:**

**Kira: Chameleon (Fire), Beautifly, Roselia, Lucario and Jolteon (Thunder).**

**Lance: Ivyasaur (Flora), Vaporeon (Aqua), Dustox, Gloom and a just caught** **Gible. **

**There! NOW! Sorry about the formatting on the old chapters now, the stupid site don't like my *** anymore! :(**

**Episode 6- Tunnel Misadventure **

**"After the contest our heroes are currently in the middle of town, standing outside the Pokémon Centre. Soon to depart for Oreburgh City for Indigo and Auberon's first battle!"**

"It's been nice seeing you again, Kirar-... Kira and Lance." Scarlet smiled. Indigo grinned.

"No doubt big mouth'll make us bump into you again." She said. Kira glared at me before looking at her friends and giggling. You know, I am kind of fed up of this whole 'I have to hate the authoress, it's in my genes' ASH AND MAY DID NOT HATE ME! RUBY DIDN'T HAVE IT IN HER GENES!

"Whatever." Kira said, then turning back once again to Scarlet and Co. "Cya whenever we see ya!"

"See you guys." Lance said with a sweatdrop at his sister.

"C'mon, Lance!" Kira said impatiently, grabbing his arm and running toward the north exit, the others all sweatdropped at them.

"She really rushes too much." Scarlet said. Yup.

"Why are they goin' that way anyway? Oreburgh is the first gym." Auberon asked. I dunno, she's probably doing the gyms in a different order to last time. "Nah, they just hate us." Paranoid... "What was that?" Nothing! *laughs nervously*

"I'm worried about your sanity..." Indigo said. Thanks, I'm worried about you too. "Shut up." Indigo added in a hiss.

"Let's go!" Nevee said, jumping off ahead to the east exit, tripping over a second later.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"You are kidding me, right?" Scarlet said. Zoom out and you can see an entrance to a tunnel. Nope, I'm not kidding you. "Nevee will go ballistic!" That's your problem.

"I hate you." Jaspa and Scarlet said at the same time. Oh my god someone agrees with Jaspa!

"You had it the wrong way around then, Authoress." Indigo corrected. Thanks. And stop calling me authoress, call me Gem!

"Can I?" Auberon asked. No. "Favouritism I tell you! FAVOURITISM!" No, just you are way too paranoid.

"Ooo! Are we going on an adventure like Dora the Explorer?" Nevee asked. Four sets of wide eyes stared at her.

"You watch that? I only do when Roi and Rori wanna, never willingly!" Scarlet said. Nevee just pouted. She's right there... my lil' sis watched that, it was _torture_!

"Let's just go." Jaspa hissed, walking into the cave.

"Jasssss!" Nevee screamed, running after him.

"C'mon, or we'll lose them!" Indigo said, running off. Hey! Stop running off alone guys!

"Come on, Auberon." Scarlet said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him in. I sense a problem...

* * *

"Jasssss! Wait up!" Nevee groaned, running out of breath. Jaspa sighed, turning to her.

"If you're following me then hurry up." He said. Nevee stuck her tongue out at him, then jumping and looking around.

"It's _dark_!" Nevee screamed. Jaspa face-palmed.

"Come here." He said. Nevee ran up to him and latched onto his arm. Am I actually witnessing Jaspa being _nice_? "No, she's annoying me with her screaming."

"Shut up four eyes." Nevee said playfully. You just insulted me. "Sorry!" OH MY GOD! A character LIKES me! *does happy dance* "I like you! You're funny!" YESSSS!

"Where are the others?" Jaspa asked me. Umm... I'll go look.

* * *

Indigo wandered nervously around the cave. It was very dark, very dark. All I can see of her is her pale skin and blue eyes. Hi ya!

Indigo jumped around, hissing at the sky afterwards.

"Damn you!" She hissed. Sorry, thought you'd know I'd follow you. Um, do you know which way to go? "If I did do you think I'd still be here?" Oh crap, that means I'm stuck too! "What?!"  
Gem dropped into the tunnel alongside, the thirty year old one.

"Hi. Whoa, I haven't come to Sinnoh since the last Gym Leader meeting." Gem said. Indigo stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"That was random. You dropped out of the sky!" Indigo exclaimed. Gem shrugged.

"I don't get why I do that, or why I am still only four ft. nine despite the aging, but I'll never know! Deal with it girl." Gem said.

"I'm gonna keep forgetting you're older than me." Indigo said. Gem glared at her over her glasses.

"C'mon, let's go." She then said, walking off. Indigo ran after her to make sure she didn't get lost. Then Gem tripped over something, landing flat on her face.

Indigo peered at her. "You OK?"

"I've experienced child birth, no pain compares to that. In other words, I'm OK." **(I HAVE NOT REALLY EXPERIENCED CHILDBIRTH! Remember my character is 30 something in this one and had Destiny and Hope.)**

* * *

"Whaddya mean we're lost?!" Scarlet yelled. Auberon held his hands up in defence.

"It's not my fault! Tell her Authoress!" He said. Silence. "Authoress? Dammit..."

"Where is she?" Scarlet asked. "She's normally making some stupid joke and/or comment about here." Auberon shrugged.

"We better keep moving anyway. Don't want her to find us, right?" He laughed. Scarlet sighed at him and the two walked off.

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this." Indigo said. Zoom out and you can see a large arch in the wall, Gem is standing by it.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Gem asked with a shrug, Indigo shuddered.

"When you say that it gives me the willies." Indigo said. Gem just gestured to the arch, Indigo groaned and the two walked in...

Five seconds later and they ran out with flaming butts and an angry Charizard behind them.

"I TOLD YOU SO!" Indigo screamed.

* * *

"Gwen, how much longer is this tunnel? I thought we were following the twerps!" Gareth said. Meowth nodded.

"We were, but I don't fink I see ne twerps 'ere!" Meowth said.

"Oh stop complaining; the second we get outta here we will nab their Pokémon." Gwen said confidently.

"Jaspa! Waiiiiiittttt!" A voice called. "SLOOOOOWWWW DOOOOWWWNNNN!"

"Alright, alright." A male voice groaned.

"Hide!" Gwyneth hissed. The three TR goons leapt in a blur behind a rock and peered over. A few seconds later Jaspa and Nevee walked into the section of the tunnel, well, Jaspa walked, Nevee jumped whilst holding tight onto her brother's arm, much to his irritation.

"Nevee, if you don't stop jumping by the time I count to ten then I will kill you!" Jaspa hissed. Nevee continued. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...10!"

Nevee hadn't stopped.

"NEVEE!" Jaspa yelled. Nevee cowered.

"Meanie!" She pouted. Jaspa sighed again. Behind the rock TRm3 were planning something...

Gareth: Prepare for trouble, we're trapped in this cave!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, you better behave!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"Team Rocket?!/Not them again..." Nevee and Jaspa said at the same time.

"Hi ya!" Nevee waved afterwards, Jaspa face-palmed.

"Give us your Pokémon or suffer the consequences, twerps!" Gareth said.

"Ooo! What are consequences? They sound nice!" Nevee grinned with a giggled. Gareth went all O.o.

"Oh stop warning them, Gareth, attack!" Gwen said, smacking her cousin around the back of the head. "Go Dustox!" She then called. Gareth just stood back. "Help me!"

"No, you do it yaself fa once!" Meowth said. Gwen glared and then turned to the 'twerps'.

"Prepare to face my wrath!" she said. Jaspa turned to his twin.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I need your help." He said. Nevee grinned, grabbing her Poké ball.

"Go Eve!" She giggled. Jaspa sighed, grabbing his own Poké ball and tossing it idly.

"Go, Bulbasaur." He said.

Both Pokémon appeared by the other's sides, they nodded at each other and looked at TRm3's Dustox.

* * *

"Why am I getting the feeling something is happening to one of the other groups?" Gem and Scarlet said at the same time, despite being in different areas.

"I dunno, maybe it's because you're the authoress/main character?" Indigo and Auberon both said at the same time.

"Maybe." The first two said with a shrug. "Dunno what though."

"Well.... Team Rocket hasn't attacked for a while." Said the second two.

"Damn."

"Let's go."

* * *

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip." Jaspa said. Bulbasaur **(Who will be referred to as Bulby from now on, cus I luv him :) **used his vines the throw Dustox at TR.

"Eve, use iron tail!" Nevee giggled. Eve did a flip and landed her glowing tail on Gwen's face.

"YOU WILL PAY!" Gwen yelled.

"What the hell if going on in here?!" Gem and Scarlet exclaimed as they walked in with their friends.

"Stop talking together now!" Indigo and Auberon said.

"Seriously, stop." Jaspa hissed.

"Wait... what is Authoress doin' here?" Auberon asked. Gem shrugged.

"I felt like it. Got a problem?" Gem said. "Besides, Indigo was stuck." She added. Indigo frowned. "Now, I wanna be able to kick the last of their asses, step aside." Gem then threw a Poké ball and her Infernape popped out. "Use Mach Punch."

Mach Punch flew at the trio and Dustox making them crash through the roof of the tunnel and fly into the air.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!!!!"

"Well done on using Bulbasaur, Jaspa. It's a minor miracle. Well, at least those guys produced us a way out, follow me!" Gem said, leaping up through the hole.

"And how the hell are we supposed to get up there?" Auberon asked. Nevee just giggled and jumped up. "WHAT THE?!"

"She's the most hyper girl on earth, what do you expect?" Indigo said with a shrug. Four vines then dropped down and each climbed up one, finding Gem and Nevee standing by a Venasaur on the top of the cave.

"Where are we gonna camp? Its night-time." Indigo asked. Gem pointed at the 'ground'.

"Set up here."

Within minutes the camp was set up, aka a load of sleeping bags and a small fire.

"You are staying?" Auberon asked. Gem nodded.

"Just 'til morning." She said.

* * *

Later that night:

"Indigo?" Gem said. Indigo looked over at her, everyone else was asleep.

"Hmm?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" Gem asked.

"Of course." Indigo said. Gem walked over on her knees. "Tiny person."

"Shut up." Gem said. Indigo smiled. "It's about Dax." Indigo's face fell immediately. "I know what he does, you need to tell someone. Walter was attacked by his father **(NOT REALLY! JUST A REFERENCE TO PA!)** and he didn't tell a soul, it just got worse."

"It's not something that can be wished away just by telling someone, Gem." Indigo said. Gem sighed, patting her shoulder and then going back to her sleeping bag.

"Please, just do it." She said before falling asleep.

* * *

**Me: Using new formatting cus don't like my *** :( R&R!**


	8. Ep 7: Rampaging Rampardos

**Me: And we're back, at last! Wooohooo! And seriously, whoever sent that HORRIBLE review last chapter better sleep with one eyes open, no one insults my characters! *angry face and BLACK EYES!***

**Well, here we go and we have DarkHero's OC! Well, three of them anyway! :) We also have my own made up gym leader. If you wanna make a gym leader I will send you a profile to fill in as it is HUGE! Just make sure it ISN'T the Oreburgh or Snowpoint leader you make!**

**Episode 6- Rampaging Rampardos**

**"Our heroes, minus Gem thank god, have arrived in Oreburgh City! But will getting the gym badge be as easy as Auberon and Indigo think?"**

"Oreburgh is very... earthy." Scarlet said as the group walked through the centre of town. It would be, it's the Rock Gym's city, deal with it. "Moody." No, you are the moody one. "Shut up." Nah, don't feel like it.

"Stop arguing you two." Indigo said. Whatever.

"How much further is it to the gym?" Auberon asked the map bearer, Jaspa. The ginger headed boy stared at the map for a minute or so more, making Auberon so impatient he was willing to rip Jaspa's sour face off his skull, before answering.

"About a five minute walk."

"YAY!" Nevee cheered for no apparent reason. OK, sorry Nevee, I like ya and all but..................... YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR MEDICATION! She then bumped headfirst into someone's back. NEVEE!

"Nevee!" The others echoed.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

The male Nevee had bumped into turned around. He had messy shoulder length black hair, his right eye was red and the other blue, and he was dressed in dark-blue pants, blood-red coloured short sleeve shirt, and black jacket with Midnight blue tribal designs on the sleeve and the back.

Next to him was a teenage girl around the same age as the boy, her long hair was almost blood red and had a rose shaped clip in it, her eyes were dark blue and her outfit consisted of a black long sleeve shirt, a black button up jacket with red rose mark on the right side and dark blue jeans.

Finally there was a younger girl, more around the group's age; she had long white hair that reaches down to just above her waist, her eyes were bright blue and she was dressed in a white and light blue pair of running shoes, a blue pair of pants, a black hoody, a red leather clip belt, a pink pair of goggles, a special crystal snowflake earring, and a pink Pokétch. **(Whoa, thank god I can copy and paste! =P)**

"Sorry about her, she's a bit hyper." Indigo apologised.

"Oh, that doesn't matter, Nathen doesn't mind, do you Nathen?" The youngest girl said. The male shook his head. "See!"

"Besides, I think she did more damage to herself." The other girl said. Gesturing to Nevee dancing around talking about pretty birdies.

"Oh no, she's just like that anyway, nothing could get through that hard head of hers." Auberon chuckled. "I'm Auberon by the way."

"Nathen." Said Nathen. "Doesn't Auberon mean-..." He started whilst gesturing to Auberon's ear, safe to say he didn't get to finish that sentence because...

"DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!!!!!" Auberon exclaimed. "I JUST MET SOMEONE AND THEY'RE ALREADY OUT TO GET ME!!!!" No, you are just plain paranoid.

"Oh boy, it's the voice our parents warned us about. They always said that there was a big chance we'd be pulled into a story." The second girl complained playfully. "I'm Kathryn by the way, Kate is just fine though." She added.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Crystal." The white haired girl smiled.

"Scarlet." Scarlet said.

"I'm Indigo, and the crazy one is Nevee." Indigo grinned. Jaspa just huffed. "And that is Mr. Sourpuss himself, Jaspa."

"Nice to meet you all." Nathen said. Another huff from Jaspa. "I can see your description of him is right."

"Yup, couldn't be closer." Scarlet said. Jaspa glared at her.

Well guys, shouldn't you be heading to the gym now?

"The gym? Could you show us the way, we kinda lost our map." Crystal said with a slight hint of embarrassment in her tone.

"Sure," Indigo said. "We'd be happy to." Jaspa grunted, Nevee accidently hit him with her arm, what a coincidence, NOT! :P

"Thanks." Kathryn said.

* * *

"Here we are!" Auberon said as they arrived at the gym.

"You don't say." Jaspa said, earning another glare from the elf like boy. Simmer down, boys.

"Is anyone gonna knock on the door?" Scarlet asked. Nevee bounced forward and started to tap out a nursery rhyme on the door, making everyone sweatdrop.

"Nevee, I think they've heard you by now." Kathryn said. Nevee jumped back smiling. The doors opened and the referee was holding it open.

"Welcome, challengers I'm guessing?" He said. The group nodded. "Come right in."

They all walked in, on one side of the field was a dark skinned male. He had gold hair in a very short ponytail and silver eyes, he was wearing a closed brown jacket and white jeans, he had a huge grin on his face.

"Hello, I'm the gym leader in this here city, the names Jack! I may be the first gym leader but you aren't gonna beat me!" He called from his position. "Who's challenging?"

Kathryn, Nathen, Indigo and Auberon put their hands up.

"Whoa, you have your work cut out for you today, Rock Brain." The referee said. Jack burst into laughter.

"Who's up first?" Jack asked.

"Um... Kathryn? You wanna go first?" Auberon said. Kathryn smiled.

"OK." She said, walking forward. Everyone else made their way to the benches below the bleachers, sitting down. "I'm ready."

"Very well, go!" The referee said.

"Graveler! Let's crush them!" Jack called. His Poké ball burst open to reveal the rock type, landing and stamping each foot once.

"Squirtle, come help!" Kate called. "Do you have to narrate?" Yes, how else will everyone know what's happening? It's not a movie! "OK, whatever." Kate giggled. I am starting to worry about any characters that end up under my control...

"This will be two on two, guessing by the fact you only have two filled Poké balls." The ref. said. "So.... begin!"

"Squirtle, use Bubble!" Kathryn called. Squirtle jumped up, going back into its shell and spinning, bubbles coming out of the limb holes in said shell.

"Use Rock Throw to knock its attack off, Graveler!" Jack said. A rock launched at the Pokémon and Squirtle was knocked out of the air, bubbles halting and a very alarmed turtle's head popping out of the head hole.

"Squirt!" Squirtle exclaimed, hitting the ground. Kate winced.

"Use Water Gun!" She shouted. Squirtle jumped up, firing off the water attack, knocking Graveler back slightly. "Again!"

This continued for a while, yeah I'm _that_ bad with battles, and eventually the Graveler was out because of the repeated attacks... not because I want to get the plot of this chapter started already, no, nothing like that! *shifty eyes* Hehe... nothing to see here! Move on! ...no, seriously. LOOK AT THEM!

The camera _finally_ turns to the battle, where Rock Brain recalled his Pokémon.... and then threw another revealing a Rampardos. YES! HERE COMES THE PLOT! *coughs* carry on.

"Right..." Scarlet said. "I'm dreading the plot now... should I be worried?" You have _no_ idea. She gulped.

"Ready Rampardos?" Jack asked. Rampardos pushed his feet back like a bull ready to charge. "I'll take that as a yes! Rampardos, use Zen Headbutt!"

But instead of using the move Rampardos charged past the ref, knocking Squirtle back into a wall and burst through a wall on the other side of the gym.

"Party time!" Nevee cheered. Several people fell over anime style. "What?" You need to go to a psychologist the first chance we get. "NOOOO! ...What's a psycolowatsit?" *anime style fall*

"What's his problem?" Nathen said. Kathryn ran and returned her Squirtle. Nathen ran over to her.

"How long has it been since you let him out, Jack?" The ref. asked. Jack counted on his fingers until he ran out.

"Umm... a month, I think." He said after a moment. The ref. face palmed.

"You really do have rocks for brains, man. Remember the last time you left him in for that long?"

Cue a thinking Jack and scream sound effects. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." The ref, who will now be referred to as Bob... no, Fred, said. Bob reminds me too much of that damn Health and Safety dude. (See RJC behind the scenes)

"Um... what're we supposed to do? A Rampardos just charged into the city, properly annoyed, and is probably ripping people to pieces right about now." Auberon said.

"Oh gee, real cheery." Crystal said. Auberon shrugged.

"PARTY DOWN!" Nevee yelled. Nevee, I am going to come down there and chase you until you have your damn meds!

Gem dropped from the sky again, running after Nevee with arms in front of her and a very annoyed look on her face. "EEP!"

"Well... that gets her out of the way for a while." Scarlet said.

"What're we gonna do?" Nathen asked. Jack shrugged.

"If you can manage to bring him back you can all have a damn badge." He said.

"Well... let's go!" Indigo said. Everyone ran out of the hole in the wall.

"There is a door ya know!" The ref. called after them. He then turned to Jack. "You really gonna give them all a badge?"

"Yup. If they can catch Rampardos and survive they deserve it." Jack said. He was then knocked over and trampled on by Nevee and Gem. "Ow."

* * *

Well, now Gem has gone, I'm narrating! It's RWalter! WOOOHOOO! Don't worry; I'm better at English than I am math.

"How are we supposed to find it?" Auberon asked.

"I dunno, but I think we lost Jaspa back at the gym. He ain't with us." Scarlet said.

"Ah well, he'd only hold us back." Indigo said. You know you don't mean that! "Stop reading Gem's notes." Damn you.

"What is that boy's problem?" Nathen asked. "He doesn't seem very... cheerful."  
"He's a sourpuss, simple as. He's a nerd too, but then again so are many." Scarlet shrugged. Including Gem. "You know, I like you. You insult big mouth." She's my GF, kid, I will batter you. "Not so much anymore."

"Back on subject, how do we find Rampardos?" Kathryn asked.

"How else? Follow the screaming." Crystal said.

"Good idea." Auberon said. "In that case... to the mine!"

"Does that elf ear thing enhance hearing or something?" Nathen asked. Auberon shrugged. "Seems like it."  
"Whatever, let's get that Rampardos!" Indigo said. You're at the mine, dudes. "Oh, yeah."

"Release your Pokémon now, then it'll be quicker to catch Rampardos and get him back to Jack." Crystal said, throwing a Poké ball to reveal Piplup.

"Good idea." Auberon repeated. Is that all you can say? "Nope." What else? "I can say Taco, Nacho, Elf, Food and... food." Wow. *note my sarcasm*

Scarlet ignored Auberon and threw her Poké ball, releasing her Charmander, Asher. He jumped into her arms when he heard the roar of Rampardos. Indigo shrugged and threw hers, Mudkip popping out and curiously looking around. Auberon released Turtwig, Nathen a Lucario (cool Pokémon dude), and Kathryn Squirtle, who seems to have made a miraculous recovery.

"Let's do this thing!" Scarlet cheered. You have no idea what you now have to go through...

* * *

"Eep! You were right!" Scarlet squealed when her Pokémon was thrown into her. Of course I was, I'm reading Gem's notes!

"I hate you already!" Indigo said. Thank god this'll be the only time I narrate then! "Mudkip, use Water Gun!"

"Use Water gun!" Everyone else with a water type echoed.

"Use force palm, Lucario!" Nathen called. The fighting type ran forward and slammed its palm into Rampardos, knocking it... KNOCKING IT OUT?! Whoa, that was a good move, man. "Thank you." Ya welcome.

"Um... are we going back then?" Kathryn asked.

"Yup." Indigo said.

* * *

"Wow, you're _alive_!" Jack said.

"Gee, thanks for ya faith... where's Jaspa?" Auberon asked.

"I dunno!" Gem called from her chase after Nevee. "He wandered off!"

"Here I am." Jaspa said, popping up behind Indigo and almost giving her a heart attack.

"Jaspa!" She hissed.

"So, deals a deal. Here are your badges! All except Jaspa and Nevee over there." Jack said, handing everyone a badge.

"Um... thanks. Not that I need it." Scarlet said. Crystal nodded in agreement with her.

"Wooohooo! I GOT A BADGE!" Auberon cheered.

"Because of me." Nathen chuckled.

"Ah well, a badge is a badge, dude." Indigo said. Nathen shrugged.

* * *

**Me: Well... sorry for the crappy ending. I went very WB and also started to read more Twilight and Harry P stuff and write it too... I kinda ran out of ideas on this chapter for a bit. But it's here now! Please review *puppy eyes* please?**


	9. Ep 8: Anyone feeling a sense of déjà vu?

**Me: I realised I didn't put the last three character profiles! Oops! Since this chapter includes them too I'll put them at the end of this one. I will have more OCs in soon! After this chapter there will be a break from your OCs and then the chapter after there will be more appearing!**

**Episode 8- Anyone feeling a sense of déjà vu?**

**"And here we go again! Our heroes have decided to pay a visit to the museum before they leave Oreburgh City, but with Scarlet's family's history with that place, what will happen?" **

"Are you sure about this? Your mom had bad luck here, and your granddad." Indigo said. Nevee was hopping behind the group; I didn't manage to give her the medication...

"I'm sure." Scarlet said.

"What happened?" Nathen asked cautiously.

"Oh, just some idiots called Team Galactic and Team Rocket." Auberon said.

"Just..." Crystal murmured. Nevee continued to jump around. Oh I am so regretting not catching you...

"Oh c'mon! What harm can looking at a bunch of rocks do?" Kathryn said. You just jinxed it, Kate.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Jaspa was engrossed in the rocks the second they arrived at the museum, and was ignoring everyone even more than normal. Gee, he's a beam of sunshine, isn't he? -.-

"What a boring place." Scarlet said. Says the girl who wanted to come here in the first place. "What? I thought it would be more interesting."

"Aren't you gonna go see the Adamant Orb?" Crystal asked, walking over. "Indigo, Nevee, Nathen and Kate have all gone off to see it. You comin'?"

"Sure, isn't that the rock that's supposed to call Dialga?" Auberon said. Crystal nodded. "Cool beans! C'mon!" He ran off. Cool beans? That's a new one.

"Weirdo." Scarlet said. Crystal giggled and the two followed. Asher popped out. Hey lil' man! Whatcha doin'? He held his claw to his lips. Oh! *whisper* Secret mission, eh? Go on, then!

Asher ran off in the opposite direction to his trainer as she, Crystal and Auberon walked out of one door and off to find the others and the Orb. Curiously he hopped up onto a stool and peered into the cases of fossils.

He read through a few of them.

'Aerodactyl fossil'

'Kabutops fossil'

'...Charmander Fossil.' Asher jumped at the last name, yelping and running off screaming. A strange laugh then echoed from the case, the name tag and fossil specimen suddenly melted into a pink blob, Ditto opened the lid of the case by dittoing a key and then walked off as if nothing had happened.

I think we have our third gen's Jigglypuff equivalent. -.-;

* * *

"What is it made off?" Auberon said as he leant a _bit_ too close to the glass surrounding the orb.

"It's a big diamond, Auberon." Nathen said.

"A very big diamond." Kate said, absentmindedly. Crystal peered in, opposite Auberon, making the latter jump. Crystal giggled.

"It is HUGE, big is an understatement." Indigo said from her position of holding Nevee back from the 'shiny thing'. Nevee was running on the spot, smoke rising from the speed of her stationary legs as she pulled against Indigo's grip on her tartan jacket. Indigo let out a yawn. How the hell can you do that? "Shut up." No, I'm worried a-... "SHUT UP!" Alright, alright... *sniff* You all hate me! WAHHHHH!

"Hey, cry-baby! Shut up!" Scarlet said. "We hate you, yeah, but we like you when you're NICE!" ... *sniff* OK...

"Right..." Kate said. "My parents were definitely right. The narrators are all bonkers." Not all of them, I'm one of the few who actually talk to their characters. Some writers let them be. "Well, we got one of the crazy ones."

"You're right there." Nathen said, then returning to his thoughts. You're owner was right about you getting lost in thought. "Hmm? What was that?" My point exactly.

"What's the other one called?" Auberon asked.

"The lustrous orb." Jaspa said, appearing out of nowhere. "Its kept in a room out back, after what happened with it last time, and what Team Galactic tried to use it for, they won't take any chances."

"That's Palkia's, right?" Kate asked. Jaspa nodded.

"Cool." Auberon said, backing away from the case, at last.

Suddenly, the lights went out.

"AHHHH!" Nevee screamed. "I NO LIKE DARK!" SHUT UP!

"All of you shut up and we won't hurt you!" A high, but male, voice said. A horrible crash was then heard, and security alarms went off, red lights flashing. This gave us a glimpse of whoever was there... OH MY GOD IT'S QUINCEY AND RIN!

"Run!" Rin yelled, running off, something shiny tucked under her arm. Quincey followed, holding a _water_ pistol up at them as he went.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Scarlet groaned, face-palming. Nathen, meanwhile, was standing stunned. Crystal, clutched onto her brother's arm, a fearful look on her face. "Them again!"

"Again?" Kate asked, looking at her travelling companions with a confused look on her face when she saw how scared they looked.

"Yeah, we've encountered them once, and their teammates another time." Indigo said. "They are as annoying and dopey as Team Rocket."

"I'm not so sure..." Nathen murmured, only Crystal heard him. And me of course, 'cause I am all powerful!

"The Adamant Orb is gone!" Auberon gasped.

* * *

"Stupid Team Universal Aura... always stealing our thunder." Gwen hissed as she peeped round a corner into the display room. Hey, you know they have only done so once before now, right?

"Still stealing our thunder!" Gareth said, shaking his fist at me. Whatever.

"We shud go nab da orb offa dem!" Meowth said.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

This will only end in tears...

* * *

"Why do we need *pant* this damn *pant* orb anyway?" Quincey panted as he ran alongside Rin.

"Because, dumbo, the Boss wants Aura, not just people with strong Aura, he needs Aura energy! And what better Aura energy than one of the strongest Pokémon of all time?" Rin said, Adamant orb still under her arm. "He goes to spear pillar, calls Dialga and then steals his energy, simple!"

"Yeah, trapping Deity Dialga will really be simple." Quincey said sarcastically. "We can't even beat those damn kids!"

"Don't say that! We were just having a bad day." Rin said. Quincey shrugged. "Such an optimistic, aren't ya?"

"Hey! You purple idiots!" A voice called. Turning the duo saw our trio of idiots standing behind them.

"Us idiots? Speak for yourselves, twits." Quincey said.

"At least I'm not blonde." Gwen said, looking directly at Rin.

"That backfires, your teammate is blonde... have you dyed you hair?" Rin said. Gwen fumed, one of those temple things I STILL don't know the name of appearing.

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

"Gwen, calm down." Gareth said with a sweatdrop. Gwen glared at him.

"Gimme that orb!" she then yelled, launching at Rin. Rin was knocked back and the orb flew through the air. The screen went into slow mo mode as it did, Meowth jumped after it, catching it just before it hit the ground. Everyone sighed in relief.

"Let's leg it!" Gareth said. The trio ran off, followed by a very angry Rin and Quincey.

* * *

Officer Jenny's were questioning everyone in the room, and some people *cough* our heroes *cough* were starting to get fed up with the 'all words and no action' thing.

"This is stupid." Scarlet said as she sat, arms folded, on a bench inside the museum.

"Tell me about it." Auberon said. "Where's all the gun action?"

"Not all police action is about guns, Auberon." Jaspa said as he leaned calmly against a wall. "Strategy, paper work, more paper work, thinking."

"Yeah, shut up." Auberon said. Jaspa just shrugged. You are such a spoilsport! Besides, there's never any police action AT ALL in the episodes, they hate guns, really. They banned one episode with one, and that I understand, cus it was pointed at someone's head, but seriously, the police there are useless!

"Excuse me?" Jenny1 said. Not you! You can have action, you just won't!

"We're in lockdown, we have time." Jenny2 said. Right, and by then the criminals will have found a way out, blown the whole joint up and got a hostage to bargain for a million Poké dollars!

"You watch too many Crime shows." Indigo said with a sweatdrop. So? "Never mind..."

"We can't just sit here." Nathen muttered to Crystal. She nodded, head in her hands. "What if they recognise us?"

"Doubt it." Crystal replied quietly.

Meanwhile Nevee was being... Nevee. She is jumping around so much that two police are threatening to put her in a straightjacket. I'm currently getting my good friend inspector Marble's daughter, Marble mark 2, to stop them. Nevee is insane, but she is not dangerous to us physically, just sanity wise!

"I'm outta here." Scarlet said after a while, checking that Nevee still had the police occupied before standing and running to an exit, the one the duo of UA members went through. Indigo followed, soon most of our heroes were off. Auberon sighed as he was about to leave, grabbing Nevee and dragging her away as the Police still were arguing over whether to put her into a straightjacket.

* * *

"Where are they?" Scarlet said. Check the storeroom, that's where TR hid out when they tried.

"That would be too predictable." Kate said.

"Like she said, let's check the storeroom." Auberon said, giving her a look that made it obvious why he said it.

"Oh. That simple minded?" Yup. They really do have the predictable things embedded into their brains.

"You don't say." Indigo said. I do say. "You sound like mom." Tell me about it!

"Shush! We're almost at the storeroom!" Nathen hissed. Kathryn looked at him confused. **(Oh! About her, if I didn't mention before I just found out she wears a Poké ball around her neck!)**

When they arrived at the storeroom, surely enough they could hear voices. Nevee started to bounce around so they made Jaspa cover her mouth and restrain her, by some miracle he is strong enough! :O

"Hey!" He hissed. Sorry. :P

Scarlet eased the door open and there was our _favourite_ trio arguing over the orb, pulling on it from one angle each.

"Gimme it!" Meowth said. "I caught it!"

"No! I'm more responsible, I can hide it from that stupid team of purple obsessed creeps better!" Gwen said.

"You, responsible? The only thing you're responsible for that you haven't lost is your brain, oh, I forgot! You lost that too!" Gareth retorted. The tug of war continued for so long, not only were _everyone_ sweatdropping, but Scarlet had almost fallen asleep. Finally Meowth got the orb and they spun around, noticing our heroes.

"Oh damn..." Auberon said.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble, in the museum of rocks!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, we've got this in the box!

Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"The Box?" Gareth said incredulously.

"What? Bag didn't rhyme!" Gwen said. Gareth face-palmed.

"Why do you have the orb? I thought that Team Universal Aura had it!" Kathryn asked. You picked up the name from the group, right? "Yeah, why?" Just checking.

"We nicked it from dem!" Meowth said. "And you're not getting it back!"  
"We'll see about that!" Indigo said. Reaching for a Poké ball. Nathen beat her to it, throwing a Poké ball and showing a Shiny Gardevoir to the world! Whoa, dude!

"Use psychic and then Psy beam!" Nathen called. The Gardevoir's eyes glowed blue, and the Orb was lifted toward them. Crystal caught it and Gardevoir then used the multicoloured beam on the trio sending...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

"Whoop!" Nevee cheered. She broke from her brother's grip. Damn.

Team Universal Aura watched from around the corner.

* * *

**_Later that day..._**

"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you guys some other time." Crystal smiled. "I'll beat you at the next contest too!"

"You won the Jubilife contest?" Scarlet exclaimed. "Dammit!"

Kate laughed. "Well, she's been a bit big-headed since then, you'll have a chance."

"Thanks." Scarlet and Crystal grumbled in unison.

"Well, at least the Adamant Orb is back in place, now." Auberon said. Nathen nodded.

"Well, we're off! Cya!" Nathen said, waving as he and his travelling companions walked off.

"We better ditto them." Indigo said. Nevee giggled randomly. Scarlet's only full Poké ball shuddered.

"About that... when will we get other Pokémon?" Um.... soon?

"Soon?"

"WHEN!"

The argument fades slowly as they walk into the distance.

* * *

**_Somewhere not far away...._**

"So..." The mysterious blonde boy said. "They're after aura..." He laughed and then walked off, hands in his pockets. "Well, it seems I now know who the bosses of that Organization currently are."

* * *

**Me: Finally! After a whole week and a bit a chapter! Here are the profiles!**

**Name: Kathryn Flora **

**Nickname: Kate, used to be called Rose as a child due to her hair colour and her love of flowers.**

**Age: 16**

**DOB: December 24, 2022**

**Hometown: Sunnyshore City, Sinnoh**

**Hair: Long red hair (almost blood shaded), a rose shaped hair clip**

**Eyes: Dark blue**

**Clothes: Black long sleeve shirt, Black button up jacket with red rose mark on the right side, Dark blue jeans**

**Occupation: Pokémon trainer/Designer**

**Personality: jumpy, artistic, kind, brave, shy, optimistic, playful**

**Family: Estella Flora (Twin Sister)**

**Pokémon: (Decided to make a fresh start) Squirtle and Mudkip, Unknown:**

**Dragonair**

**Goals: Find her past, and to be the best trainer she can be.**

**Crush: Nathen Pierce. P.S. if you feel like making someone have a thing for her that's fine.**

**Back-story: Kate comes from the same town in Pokoh as Nathen does, but she lost her memory at her fifth birthday when Nathen's father's lab was destroyed. She went to Kanto when she was 10, and decided to go with Nathen and his sister when they left for their journey. She has had a deep rivalry with her sister over who will get to be with Nathen.**

**Name: Nathen Pierce**

**Nickname: Hero**

**Age: 16**

**DOB: April 4, 2022**

**Hometown: Snowpoint City, Sinnoh**

**Hair: Shoulder length, messy black hair**

**Eyes: Right eye red, left eye blue**

**Clothes: Dark-blue pants, Blood-red coloured short sleeve shirt, Black jacket with Midnight blue tribal designs on the sleeve and the back**

**Occupation: Pokémon Trainer and a part time Coordinator, current positions: 1 badge in Sinnoh, 1 ribbon in Sinnoh**

**Personality: Quiet, Kind, Helpful, Laid Back, Artistic, Often Lost in Thought, Brave.**

**Family: Maria Pierce (Mother), Crystal Pierce (Baby Sister), Aaron Pierce (Father), Ariel Pierce (Aunt)**

**Pokémon: Chameleon (Shiny), Turtwig, Lucario, Dragonair, Gardevoir (White Shiny), Pidgeot.**

**Goals: To be the best trainer in the world!**

**Crush: Kate Flora, life-long friend and the most important person in his life.**

**Back-story: Nathen was originally born in Pokoh, but lost some of his memory of the home he used to have. HE later moved to Sinnoh after his father's lab was destroyed by an organization obsessed with the power of Aura. When he moved to Sinnoh, Nathen slowly started to develop a deeply imbedded power over aura. Due to the accident, Nathen had a late start on his journey but he is still on the top of his game do to the pre-emptive training.**

**Name: Crystal Pierce**

**Nickname: Princess**

**Age: 11**

**DOB: June 15, 2027**

**Hometown: Snowpoint City, Sinnoh**

**Hair: Long white hair that reaches down to just above her waist, Crystal wears a Snow flake pin in her hair when she's either happy or competing in a contest.**

**Eyes: Bright blue colour, but sometimes appears to be a bright white.**

**Clothes: She wears a white and light blue pair of running shoes, a blue pair of pants, a white tank top with a red rose design on the right side of the chest part that broke apart just blow the waste, a black hoody, a red leather clip belt, a pink pair of goggles, a special crystal snowflake earring, and a pink Pokétch. For a contest Crystal wears a white silk dress with a special design on the chest that was made for her birthday.**

**Occupation: Coordinator**

**Personality: Kind, talkative, Capable of lifting moods, Artistic, Scary Peppy at times.**

**Family: Nathen Pierce (Older Brother), Maria Pierce (Mother), Aaron Pierce (Father), Ariel Pierce (Aunt)**

**Pokémon: Glaceon (Gift from her mother), Cyndaquil, Piplup **

**Goals: To be the best Coordinator, and to bring Nathen closer to the person he loves.**

**Crush: New trainer so no know crushes, so I'll leave up any ideas to you.**

**Back-story: Crystal was born in Snowpoint a few days after her family moved to Sinnoh from Pokoh. Crystal has always been interested in contest, she started to get into them when she first saw a contest at the age of 5. With her brothers she has developed a journal of combinations and styles that she saw on TV. She was also thought to have the ability to make any Pokémon or person no matter how furious turn an angry stare into a calm and relaxed look of peace (Maybe this will be able to turn Jaspa and make him open up a little, what do you think?).**


	10. Ep9: Run Rabbit, Scarlet has a Poke Ball

**Me: OK, I did say no OC this chapter, but seriously, the OC are giving me plot lines! WHOOP! Or at least helping me in ones when I can't make up my own OC, lol. So, Twilight Smash, here comes your OC! OH! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! Now I got your ATTENTION all OC that I said will be recurring will be, but not always very near each other, and if I forget to add them again all reappear at the league and GF! YAY!**

**Episode 9- Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Scarlet has a Poké ball!**

**"And now we're back on a roll our heroes are on route 203 on their way to Floaroma! Ready to cut through Jubilife again, our heroes are about to _fall_ for the oldest trick in the book!"**

"So, how far until we reach Jubilife again, Jaspa?" Auberon asked.

"Well think about it, it took us a day or two to reach Oreburgh, so how long do you think it'll take us to get back the same distance?" Jaspa said, giving him a look.

"A week?" Auberon snickered. Jaspa hissed.

"Shut up you two." Indigo said with arms folded across her chest. _So immature_. I wouldn't say that Jaspa was _immature_, more like too _mature_.

"You have a point, Nevee is the immature one of that set of twins." Scarlet said. "What is with all the twins this season?" I don't know, to be honest. Roi and Rori, Nevee and Jaspa, Kirar- Kira and Lance, and one more set (at least) to come... I guess twins are just popular!

"Probably." Indigo shrugged. Asher, hopping in front them and singing a merry song to himself, was completely oblivious to everything that had gone on the previous day, and also what was going on now. He was trying to block out the 'traumatising experience' of seeing a 'fossil' of his kind.

Due to his obliviousness he was the first to _fall_ into the trap.

As they continued to walk the little Charmander stepped on a certain patch of ground and suddenly found himself walking on thin air over a large hole, he panicked (of course) flailing his arms around with an alarmed look before falling into the hole. When he hit the bottom he stood up and wiped his forehead, relieved he was OK. He didn't count on my evil nature!

On ground level the group was arguing so much, Nevee dancing around like a loony as usual, that they didn't notice the HUGE hole in the ground, they walked on and the next thing poor Asher knew he was squished under the bodies of his Teammates' trainers. Nevee sat on the top of the pile in a proper sitting position, looking innocently at me like she didn't know what had just happened, which is possible.

"That was fun!" Nevee giggled a second later. "Again?"

"NO!" Everyone exclaimed.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Mwhahahaha!" Gwen said as she and her team of idiots stood around the top of the hole. "Hey! I resent being call an idiot!" Whatever, hot pink outfit lady.

"And I thought you let people off from this!" Scarlet yelled up. I did, for your mother. Team Rocket barely appeared for them, but this is basically an actual series to me, so you are having them stalk you forever! "I hate you." I know.

"Let us out!" Indigo called. Nevee held Asher close, she was actually scared. Because she thought there would be bug Pokémon... typical, there's always one! Wait, why are you holding Scarlet's Pokémon?

"Hmmm, how about no?"

"How about yes!" A voice called from the ground level. Camera, get out of the hole and go see who it is!

The Combee camera man flew up out of the hole and zoomed in on the figure not that far from the hole.

He had Dark brown hair, a little hanging over the forehead sweep to the right side and wearing a pair of sunglasses on top of his head and light amber eyes. He had on a black short sleeve button shirt with a green v-neck vest that he keeps open, dark blue cargo pants, black boots, and green fingerless gloves.

"And who are you?" Gareth said.

"The name's Drake Prescott, and you are?" Drake said.

"Team Rocket! The world's most menacing team!" Gwen said.

"Menacing? The only thing scary about you is the hot pink outfit!" Someone agrees! YES! "Ah, a story plot." You're in it now, no running off. "Alright, go Chikorita!"

"Ha, ya fink a lil' Chikorita will beat us?" Meowth snickered.

"Um, yeah." Drake said. "Chikorita, use Razor leaf!"

The Chikorita use the attack and Meowth was thrown into the duo behind him, then Chikorita use the attack _again_ and they went flying through the air.

"Well, that was brief." Gareth said.

"312 words only? WHATTTT?" Gwen yelled.

"Shuddup!" Meowth hissed.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

That _was_ brief... whoa.

"Hello? Dude up there, can you help us out?" Auberon called. A minute later a rope dropped down the side of the hole. Scarlet climbed up it first, Asher latching onto her bag, shortly followed by Indigo and then Nevee. Jaspa went up after his sister and then Auberon last, but not least, climbed up the rope.

"Thanks." Scarlet said. "Drake, was it?"

"Yep." He said. "What is with them?"

"They're mad, made to be idiots." Auberon said. You got that right!

"Banana!" Nevee shouted randomly. Drake looked at her, confused.

"Did she hit her head?" He asked.

"Nope, she's always like that, she won't take her meds." Scarlet chuckled.

"Oh, sorry." Drake said.

"You're not the first to ask." Jaspa said. Drake just shrugged.

"I'm guessing you're heading to Jubilife?" He asked.

"Yup, we sure are. We're on route for Floaroma." Indigo said. "You?"

"I'm trying to find a Pokémon to catch."

"Anything in particular?" Auberon asked. Drake shook his head. "Well, thanks for your help. Good luck in your Pokémon hunt."

"Thanks, and no problem." Drake said before running off in the other direction.

"He was nice." Nevee said.

"Doesn't smile much though." His owner warned me about that, I'm sure he'll open up. "You lured him here, didn't you?" Auberon added. Yup, he doesn't know that he was submitted to my torture. "Poor him."

"He has the right idea, maybe we should start hunting for Pokémon?" Scarlet said. "We only have our starters, minus Nevee who has an Eevee."

"Good point, let's go!"

* * *

**_A little while later...._**

"This is ridiculous!" Scarlet groaned as she sank to her knees. "Where are all the Pokémon!"

"Probably hiding from you." Jaspa said. Auberon chuckled.

"More likely from you." He said. Jaspa glared.

"Feel the love, people!" Nevee said. Shut up. "No! Ooo! Pretty flower!" *head-desk*

"Look!" Indigo said, pointing to an area of long grass where you could see a cream coloured puff ball like thing sticking out. "Dexette should be able to see what it is from that."

"OK." Scarlet said. She pulled out her black Poké Dex and pointed it at the puff ball. I can tell what that thing is without the Poké Dex!

Its: Buneary, the rabbit Pokémon. Its ears are always coiled up, but can be extended so forcefully and quickly it could smash a boulder.

They ignored me and all gathered around the Poké Dex.

**_Buneary, the rabbit Pokémon. Its ears are always coiled up, but can be extended so forcefully and quickly it could smash a boulder._** Said Dexette. SEE!

"Oh, right." Scarlet said. Trust me, I'm a Pokémon expert. "Alright, name them all, in ORDER!" That's easy, Bulbasaur, Ivyasaur, Venasaur, Charmander, Chameleon, Charizard, Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Caterpie... "Without cheating." Damn you!

"Who's got dibs?" Indigo said.

"Me, me! I need cutie Pokémon for contests!" Scarlet said. You just sounded so much like Nevee that I'm scared. "Oh shut up big mouth."

"Go on then, battle it!" Auberon said, Buneary hopped out cheerfully, unaware that she was about to be challenged.

"Buneary, Bun, bun Buneary." It sang. Asher jumped toward it. "Bun!" Buneary exclaimed.

"Char, Charmander, Charmander Mander." Charmander said.

"Bun, Buneary." Buneary nodded, stepping toward Scarlet. But you know, I'm not making it that easy!

"Mareep use Thunderbolt!" Drake called as he ran into the area. The sheep Pokémon fired off the electric attack, hitting Buneary.

"BUNEARY!" Buneary screamed.

"Drake!" Indigo yelled. This blew Mareep's concentration and the attack ceased. Buneary hopped into the grass, Asher followed. He's being sweet and trying to help his trainer, aw!

"Dammit, that was the first Pokémon I saw today." Drake cursed.

"Same here, Drake. We were about to catch it... wait, where's Asher?" Scarlet exclaimed.

"In the grass." Jaspa said.

"Damn." Scarlet said. "Nevee, you can scare the hell out of any Pokémon that tries to attack us in there, you're coming with me." She grabbed Nevee's arm and dragged her off.

"Why try to catch a Buneary anyway, Drake? You strike me as a gym guy, and Buneary is more a contest Pokémon." Auberon said. Drake shrugged.

"First Pokémon in this forest I have seen, I just felt like I had to catch it." Drake said. "Scarlet seems determined to get it though."

"She sure is, she's just glad big mouth is finally letting us catch Pokémon after eight chapters and an intro." Indigo said. "Big mouth is forgetful." You got that right. "Thank you."

"C'mon, let's find her. Jaspa you babysit.... oh dammit, Nevee went with Scarlet. I thought you could stay here then." Auberon said.

* * *

"Nevee, can you stop dancing now?" Scarlet sighed. *whispers in her ear* I'm coming down now, shh!

"Nope." Nevee said. "Not until we find Bunny!" Gem dropped into the screen behind her, sneaking up with a syringe of medication before leaping on Nevee's back and jabbing it in her arm. Nevee screamed for a second before stopping. "What happened?" She said in a sane, more musical, voice. Gem grinned and disappeared.

"You hadn't taken your meds for weeks, Nevee. Authoress just gave it you." Scarlet explained.

"Oh." Nevee said. It'll wear off in a few hours. "YES!" See, she's still slightly insane.

"OK. Now, Nevee, we're trying to find the Buneary we saw earlier." Scarlet explained.

"OK, come on then." Nevee said, walking off like a normal human. You know, I don't think I'm going to give her meds again, she's better insane!

"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree." Scarlet said before walking off after the girl.

"Look, there it is!" Nevee said, pointing to the small Buneary sitting and talking with Asher.

"Then again it has some advantages." Scarlet added. "Asher!"

The Charmander looked up and waved, calling them over. Buneary grinned at them, Asher gave her a smile too. Aw, Asher's in love!

Scarlet knelt in front of them. "So, Buneary, do you want to come with us?" Buneary looked at Asher and blushed before nodding. "Well, here you go." Scarlet grinned as she held out a Poké ball, Buneary pushed it with her ear and was sucked into it. "I caught a Buneary!" More like it came to you, lol.

"Hey guys!" Auberon called as the rest of them appeared. "You got it?"

"It chose to come, seems Asher has an admirer." Scarlet giggled.

"Poké Love." Nevee grinned.

"What happened to her?" Indigo said. Medication. "Never give it her again, it's scary." I know, really creepy... *shudders*

"So, that easy huh?" Drake said.

"Sure was. We have a history of that, it's the only way big mouth up there will managed to get us to catch them, whilst she's around anyway." As I said, I will make this longer than the last one, which means no skipping.

"So you're going to _remember_ to get us to catch Pokémon and Badges and Ribbons?" Nevee coughed. "And designs?" Yep. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Let's get outta here." Indigo said.

* * *

**Me: Well, another chapter! Whoop! Well, I won't put the profile because, sorry Twilight Smash, I doubt he will be in again until the league, I am running out of recurring people spaces now I've counted the OCs. Well, if he's in again I'll put the profile, K? R&R!**


	11. Ep 10: Kidnapped

**Me: Three OC in this one! Whoop! (Oh dear god no...) Thanks Glaceon-Girl-P0K3M0N and pokemon2471! And yes, in pre-warning, I know that the spare team never appears within two episodes of the last appearance, but they have better plots than dopey Team Rocket!**

**Gwen: Who you calling dopey?**

**Me: How'd you get here? And I'm calling _you_ dopey!**

**Gwen: I don't know! And I am not dopey! *fight starts***

**Scarlet: See you after the chapter! Authoress is otherwise occupied so here's the first disclaimer of the story!**

**Disclaimer: Torchix does not own Pokémon, and NEVER will. **

**Episode 10- Kidnapped. **

**"Another day travelling down route 203, could you get more repetitive Authoress? OW! OK, OK! I'll say whatever crap you have written down.... Kill me? Wait, No! NO!"**

"I think authoress just killed the voiceover man." Scarlet said.

"Mousey!" Nevee cheered. I locked the meds away, she is so much more fun insane!

"Nevee, we don't have time for your silly games." Jaspa said. Nevee shook her head.

"Mousey! Over there!" She shouted, pointing at a bush where a little Pikachu was sitting.

"Oh." Indigo said. "An actual Pikachu, that's the first time she said something that was actually there."  
"You got that right." Nevee giggled. She has a knack for insulting herself without realising, doesn't she?

"I wonder whose it is." Scarlet said. "Hey, little guy, where's your trainer?" She asked, taking a step closer. The Pikachu went into a defensive stance with cheeks sparking.

"Whoa, Storm, they're just trainers." A male voice said. A second later two people, a male and a female, walked out of the bush.

The male had spiky, dark brown, tinted with red hair and emerald eyes, and wearing a black t-shirt with a flame pattern along the bottom, jeans that were dyed dark blue, white sneakers with black designs, red tinted goggles that are lazily perched on his head, and black fingerless gloves.

The female had black, wavy hair that goes down to the midpoint of her back with white and blue streaks with ice blue eyes, she was wearing a white beret with a blue ribbon, a light blue skirt that goes to her mid-thigh with white leggings underneath, white running shoes, a white tank-top with blue snowflakes, a white scarf around her neck with blue, red and green beads, and gold earrings with a red ribbon and green bell on each one. She has a white messenger bag and stood at the height of only 5'2.

"Sorry about Storm." The girl said.

"No problem." Auberon said. Storm went back to a happy nature and leapt onto the boy's head. **(I love Pikachu! Thanks so much for submitting him! YAY!) **

"I'm July." The male said. Scarlet raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound much like a boy's name..." She said. The girl giggled.

"I'm December, his really name is Julian, but you call him that and... let's just say you won't _want_ to live much longer."

"Hi Julian!" Nevee said cheerfully. I'm not going to watch this...!

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Meanwhile, somewhere not too far away from the site of the little slaughter fest over there, the same mysterious boy we've seen for two chapters now was walking down the path adjacent to our heroes.

"So, Growlithe," He asked the Pokémon at his side "do you have a clue where we're going?"

"Growlithe, Growl! Lithe, Lithe!" Growlithe said, giving his trainer a look. A rough translation of what he said is 'I don't know, seriously! I'm a Pokémon, dude!' Dontcha just love how Poké speak is so not matched with what it means?

"Right, I forgot." He said.

"Growlithe lithe growl!" 'Don't give me that crap, Miles!'

Miles laughed. "Ah well, worth a try."  
They continued to walk for a few minutes when someone in a black and purple outfit with purple hair leapt up behind him, Growlithe couldn't yelp quickly enough when he was suddenly grabbed by a high-tech looking box, a purple crystal design on the top of it and purple lines like on a circuit all over it.

A second later the male of the grunts grabbed Miles, covering his mouth before he could scream. He snapped handcuffs on, but not before one of his Poké balls was knocked off by the blonde boy, who wasn't going down without a fight. He struggled against the male, ready to yell the second the hand was removed, but the Grunt moved with surprising speed, putting a gag on only a second after he moved his hand.

"You're not getting away, Target." He hissed into the teen's ear before dragging him off whilst he teammate grabbed the box containing Growlithe.

Once they were gone the Poké ball started to wobble before bursting open, revealing an Electabuzz. Poké balls are truly amazing, I tell you! They can hear everything from in there! No joke.

"Electabuzz, buzz, Electa!" 'Hey, voice, what do I do?' See? Anyway, alert my team! Use thunder at the sky!

Electabuzz used his attack straight up at the sky.

* * *

**_A few minutes earlier..._**

Nevee sat on the floor with Tweety Birds flying around her head, eyes swirls.

"July, I think you went a bit crazy then." Deci said. Julia- _July_ shrugged and then nodded. Deci (December) patted his back.

"She'll be fine." Jaspa assured. Do you care? "Not particularly."

"Nevee has a thick skull." Scarlet said. "You could hit her with a sledge hammer and it wouldn't do any damage." Damn right it wouldn't, she got that off Gemma. July sweatdropped.

"And I thought our Moms had warned us about everything in this mad world, a narrator? You're in a story?" July said.

"Yep, and that is our narrator, call her big mouth, it annoys her." Indigo said. Gee, thanks. "Ya welcome."

"Where you heading?" Deci asked.

"Floaroma, you?" Auberon said.

"Same." July said. "Deci has a contest."

"You're a coordinator?" Scarlet said. December nodded.

"Sure am, and a trainer." She replied. There's always one of them, just makes my job all the harder. "Glad to know." I thought you were supposed to be kind?

"ELECTAAAAA!" A scream suddenly shook the forest, making trees tremble. A second after the scream a huge thunder attack rose above the forest and there was a bright light, almost blinding.

"What the hell?" Auberon said. "SOMEONE IS OUT TO GET ME!" STOP being PARANOID! Seriously, I am the only one out to get you, you know that. "AHHH! VOICE OUT TO GET ME!" *sigh/head-desk*

"That sounded urgent, come on!" July said, running off. Another rash person! Gee, as if I didn't have enough of those!

"July!" Deci called, running after him. Our heroes nodded and ran off with them.

* * *

Miles sat, bound hands and feet, in the back of a black pizza van, inconspicuous and very easy to pass through security placements if needs be.

Beside him was the box with his Growlithe in and next to that his belt with Poké balls, surrounded by some force field so he couldn't get it, even with his foot.

Concentrating very hard his squeezed his eyes shut and tried to form a familiar blue ball in his cuffed hands, a second later he gasped for need of breath from exertion and the ball disappeared. He had hardly ever tried that, but he was sure he could do better.

"Don't bother trying, Target, this may look like a Pizza van but it has special tech, no aura gets in or out." The male called through a grate into the back area where Miles was being kept. "You're dealing with Team Universal Aura now."

Miles cursed before trying fruitlessly to form another, larger ball.

_Just because it can't get in or out doesn't mean it can't be introduced whilst already inside._ He thought to himself. _Let's see if we can't get this van tumbling_.

* * *

July ran ahead of everyone, Deci a close second. Scarlet was being dragged by Auberon, blushing at the contact of his hand. She may have unlimited stamina, but it doesn't come packaged with speed.

Indigo was running just behind the coup- two, Jaspa trailing far back and Nevee happily dancing behind them all. I love this Nevee, she's way better than sane Nevee. (I never thought I'd live to hear myself say that!)

"It can't be much further." July called back. True to my form, Electabuzz appeared soon after.

"There!" Scarlet said. They all skidded to a stop, Nevee crashing into Jaspa's back, making a domino effect as they all fell down.

"Nevee....!" Jaspa said, blushing (OH MY GOD!) when he realised he was on top of, and facing, Indigo. Indio had a blush of her own on her cheeks too, looking to the left to avoid his yellow eyes.

"Electa!" Electabuzz scolded. Gee, dude, blame Nevee. "Elect."

Everyone pulled themselves up, Auberon's hand lingering on Scarlet's before he turned to face the electric type.

"OK, explain." He said.

"Electabuzz, buzz Electa, Elect buzz, abuzz elect." Auberon made 'huh-hum, huh and hmm' noises as he spoke.

"What'd he say?" Indigo asked. Auberon thought for a moment and then turned to them. He look serious and then dropped his face to one of what can only be described and indifferent.

"No idea." He said. Everyone fell over anime style.

"Gee, helpful." July said. Deci was first to stand.

"Storm? Think you can help your trainer out and talk to Electabuzz?" She asked. Storm nodded and ran over to the Pokémon. They talked for a bit.

Storm then explained to Asher (who conveniently popped out XD) and then he told Scarlet. Its Chinese whispers!

"What? Who's Miles... oh my god it's the mysterious blonde kid, right?" Scarlet said. You would be correct.

"What?" Indigo asked, still recovering from that close encounter with Jaspa.

"The mysterious blonde kid was kidnapped by some creeps in _black and purple_." Scarlet said.

"Oh hell." Auberon said. Asher hopped into his trainer's arms, and it wasn't for fear of team UA, no! It was because their mention made him remember the last time he heard they were there, the day he saw the Charmander fossil.

"Who?" Deci asked. Love that nickname, girl, it's cool! "Thanks."

"A bunch of idiots trying to get Aura or something." Indigo said.

"Aura's pretty." Nevee said.

"How would you know?" Jaspa asked.

"Ash!" Nevee said.

"Oh yeah, Granddad. I'll be able to do that soon." Scarlet said. Really? I thought the aura would have got muddied out by now. "Nope."

"ELECTA!" Electabuzz yelled.

"I think he wants us to quit yappin' and find his trainer." Auberon said.

"(Damn right!)"

"Come on then." July said. I keep thinking he's a girl... July make me think 'Julie'! "Hey!"

* * *

"What the hell is going on back there?" The female grunt yelled, looking through the grate as her teammate tried to steer by leaning over to the wheel. *face-palm and then head-desk*

Miles smirked, the aura ball behind him got bigger and bigger, and the van was shaking now.

"This!" He yelled, muffled by the gag. The ball broke his handcuffs and he ripped off his gag, tearing off his last bond (his ankles) and stood up. "You're not taking down a Target that easily!"

"Dammit, stop the van!" The male said. The van jerked to a stop, Miles took his chance and grabbed the box and belt, despite how much it burnt to grab the latter, and burst through the back doors of the van, running into the forest. The female groaned.

"Shit." She said, throwing her badge to the ground and stamping on it. The male sighed.

Miles ran for a long while before he bumped head-first into a familiar boy.

"Ow! Dude, watch where ya going?" July exclaimed.

"So-.... Hey, its Scarlet and crew." Miles said.

"It's the mysterious dude." Auberon said. "Or Miles."

"How'd you know that?" Miles asked. Everyone looked at his Electabuzz. "Oh, gimme your Poké ball." Electabuzz tossed his trainer the Poké ball and his trainer returned him.

"Where are the UA grunts?" Scarlet asked.

"Back there somewhere, I managed to ditch them." Miles said.

"They're in a ditch?" Nevee asked. No, Nevee. "Oh."

"Why are they so keen on getting you?" Indigo asked.

"Well... I have a hunch, but I don't feel comfortable sharing."

"That's OK, Miles." Deci said. Sure it is, ah well, at least ya OK.

* * *

**Me: OK... random chapter but it has purposes. Anyway, R&R!**


	12. Ep 11: TV mania!

**Me: Welcome back! Whoop! Hehe... Anyway! OC again (!) Well, I'll put the very long profiles of**** Glaceon-Girl-P0K3M0N's characters at the end of this. Thanks to the latter for the Virtual Cookie! XD Here we go!**

**Episode 11- TV mania!**

**"Now our heroes friend Miles has escaped from the grasps of UA and I am actually still alive, our heroes are finally arriving (December and Julian in tow) in Jubilife... wait? What is Julian doing here? AHHHHH!"**

"And that is the second time in as many episodes that he has been killed." Scarlet giggled, from Auberon's back. What happened to her?

"She literally almost passed out from exhaustion." Indigo said. How? She had unlimited stamina!

"Nevee." Everyone said at once, Nevee giggled.

"Seriously, she would not stop running so we sent Scarlet after her... and you can see the result." Deci said. July ran up behind them.

"He dead?" Scarlet asked.

"You mean _Is_ he dead." Jaspa corrected. God! You are worse than my Spell check! Its forever saying 'Fragment (consider revising)' just because I don't put the sentence like _that_. "So-rry."

"Ooo! Get you being sarcastic!" Indigo teased. Jaspa blushed. He's actually showing signs of being human, photo moment!

"Anyway _is_ he dead?" Scarlet repeated.

"Nope." July said. "Not yet, he's been rushed to hospital though."

"I'm backing away..." Auberon said. Scarlet giggled. Nevee, on the other hand, actually went closer. Nevee, I don't advise that, especially since you don't seem to get the fact he hates his full name...

"I won't kill her." July said.

"He doesn't kill girls... normally." Deci said. I'm backing off now... dammit, I can't! I wouldn't be able to reach the laptop!

"We're almost back at Jubilife now." Jaspa said. "A mile to go."

"Hey! OVER HERE!" A voice called.

"What was that?" Nevee said, going into coward mode, hiding behind Jaspa who sighed. Deci clamped onto her companions arm.

"OI! I'm a bit stuck; can I please have some help? OVER HERE!" The voice called again. The group turned and saw a boy with spiky brown hair towards the right side with some covering the right eye, navy blue eyes and wearing blue pants, red shoes with a white star on each side, white T, and a red hoody with a white scale on the back... hanging upside down by his leg with a rope around his ankle. -.-;

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Julia-July said as he ran over, trying to find a way to loosen the rope.

"I haven't a clue! One minute I was walking the next minute I was hanging upside down with all the blood running to my brain!" He said, sighing at July as he tried, and failed, to get him free.

"I need help here!" July called back. Auberon let Scarlet down and ran over.

"There is a penknife in my pocket." The boy said. "The name is Kite, voice thing; I'm not going crazy am I?" No, they can all hear me too. "Thank god."

Auberon grabbed the penknife and cut the rope... wait! Lower it slow- *CRASH* Never mind...

"Ow."

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Kite had now recovered from his unlucky fall.

"Unlucky? You got that right, unlucky Auberon seems to have no brain." I agree with you there, Kite.

"Hey!" Auberon pouted. Scarlet punched his shoulder, playfully of course. "Hey!"

"So, Kite, where are you headed?"

"Haven't a clue." Kita said. "Probably Eterna." Why don't you know? "I'm trying to find a group." Like a stalker? "No!"  
"Who?" Indigo asked.

"Nathen Pierce, Crystal Pierce' he blushed lightly as he said her name 'and Kathryn Flora."

"Hey, we met them!" Nevee said. "They were nice!"

"And she finally calls someone who _is_ nice, nice." Scarlet said. "She's right, we met them. Nice people."

"They are." Kite said. "Just very hard to track down."

"Wouldn't know, we're not stalkers." Auberon snickered.

"Oh shut up." Kite said, slumping his shoulders.

"Hey! It's Jubilife!" Deci said, pointing forward. Everyone cheered and ran ahead... Jaspa didn't cheer. He walked behind them slowly.

**_About five minutes later at the PC..._**

_"Last night the Oreburgh Museum was broken into and the Adamant and Lustrous orb stolen by people dressed all in black. It is unknown how they got past the high-tech security, but it is thought to be the same people who tried the same stunt a few days ago in broad daylight. Police are working on it." Said Natasha, Rhonda's granddaughter. She has brown hair like her and blue eyes too. The mike thing suddenly hit her... _Things never change..._ "YOU ARE JUST AS BAD AS YOUR GRANDFATHER!"_

"So, they managed to get it anyway." Scarlet said as she took a sip of her milkshake. Auberon nodded.

"Seems so. They never give up." He said.

"Who?" Kite asked.

"Team Universal Aura." Indigo replied as she walked in with a can of Coke. "They seem, as the name suggests, to be after aura."

"Aura... I heard about that. Some life energy, right?"

"Right." Jaspa said. "Aura is the fuel of life, if you don't have aura you don't live, basically."

"Real cheery, isn't he?" July said. Kite nodded.

* * *

"I am really starting to hate the authoress even more than before, why do Team Universal Aura get all the good plot lines? Where were we last chapter?" Gwen said. You were in the author's note. "AND? THAT DOESN'T COUNT!"

"Gwen, calm down! Getting angry with her will only make our situation worse!" Gareth warned. Gwen hissed but piped down. "Good."

"I'm not happy about this."  
"How's 'bout we go nab us sum Pokémon?" Meowth said.

"Hell yes! Get back at them!" Gwen said. "MACHINE TIME!"

* * *

"I wonder why TUA are after Aura in the first place." Indigo said as the group exited the Poké centre.

"The same reason all evil organizations are after whatever they're after, world domination." Auberon said. Galactic weren't, they wanted a new world.

"She has a point." December said. "They did only want to destroy this earth and make a new one."

The conversation was brought to a close when they saw a familiar woman, followed by many, many cameras running toward them.

"Oh boy..." Scarlet said. "Here comes trouble..." The people came up to them after a minute or two. "Hey, Natasha. Whatcha doing over here?" Scarlet asked.

"You were at the first burglary, right?" Natasha asked.

"Yep!" Nevee said. She is actually partially sane... whoa.

"What did you see?" Natasha asked.

"Well... The bad guys. Called Team Universal Aura." Scarlet said.

"And anything else?" Natasha urged.

"Not really, TR again, and the orb. That's it." Indigo said. Natasha nodded and turned to the camera, doing a monologue about what they had just told her. The camera man blinked twice, looking back into the camera before looking past it again.

"Um, Natasha? What's that?" He asked with a shaky voice, pointing over the camera to the trees behind the one area of no skyscrapers in the city. A large machine (oh boy) was heading their way over the trees, shaped like a giant Meowth... they must be running out of ideas. Like me.

"Oh crap." Our heroes all said at once.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble, we're fed up of our lot!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, so we'll steal your Pokémon to fill our money pot!

Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

The trio were in the Meowth machine's eye.

"Alright, Meowth, do your thing." Gwen snickered.

"Ma pleasure!" Meowth said, pressing a big red button. Lots of hands shot out of the machine's claws, grabbing all of the groups Poké ball belts. Kite, though, didn't just have his belt taken, no! He was taken with it, flying through the air attached to a rubber fist.

"Why does this stuff always happen to meeeeeee?" He screamed as he was taken into the hand of the Meowth. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Who are they?" Natasha asked.

"Team Rocket, the worst bad guys out there." Indigo said.

"How bad?" July asked.

"So bad they can't even catch a Caterpie." Auberon said.

"Whoa, that is bad." Deci said.

"Tell us about it." Scarlet groaned. "Here we go again, let's chase them, guys!"  
Everyone, including the cameras and Natasha, ran after TRm3. Auberon towing the slow Scarlet behind him again.

"Nevee, if you crash into me this time I will kill you." Jaspa hissed. Jaspa! "What?" Backing away...

"Mwhehehehehe!" Gwen laughed sinisterly. "We have all your Pokémon!"

"Which totals only.... ummm....? I dunno, but not many!" Scarlet called.

"Whatever." Gwen said. "Speak to the hand."  
"Childish." Jaspa said.

"And here we are, chasing with a group of trainers after a giant robot that just kidnapped another trainer!" Natasha said.

"Natasha, could you not do that?" Auberon asked.

"I can do what I like, elfy kid." Natasha said. Auberon sighed.

"Don't go paranoid... Don't go paranoid..." He said to himself. O...K... I am surrounded by insane people!

"Dammit, how do we attack without Pokémon?" Deci said.

"I dunno."

**_Meanwhile, in the hand..._**

Kite had released his Pokémon, Typhlosion, and was trying to figure out how to get out. Dude, blast a hole in the wall!

"Oh yeah!" Kite said. "Typhlosion, use Fire Punch!" Typhlosion ran forward and, fist flaming, punched over and over the metal of the hand. "Keep going until we get out!"

Team Rocket were wondering what the racket was.

"What is that?" Gareth said.

"Nothing." Meowth said. "This thing is fighting move proof." That's fighting, there's more than that in the hold. "Damn."

Right on cue the wall of the hand broke and Kite was standing precariously on the edge, Typhlosion behind him carrying all the belts.

"We're out!" Kite said, watch out! *CRASH* Oh for god's sake!

Kite crashed to the floor but, due to the magic of anime, he wasn't hurt. Typhlosion followed after him, using flamethrower to slow his decent.

"Use... Flamethrower... on the machine." Kite said, walking around with swirly eyes. Typhlosion sighed at his trainer before laughing and then using the attack.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The little star appeared in the sky.

"And they have beaten the big machine.... but it seems one had taken a little hit to the head." Natasha said.

"I like bananas on my waffles." Kite said before falling down.

* * *

"Its manic, Mom." Scarlet said, sitting in front of the video phone, her mother on the other end.

"I can guess, if its anything like my journey then you have it rough." Ruby laughed.

"It's worse." Scarlet said. "Team Rocket _and_ Team Universal Aura."

"Universal Aura?"

"I mentioned them before, mom." Scarlet reminded.

"Oh yeah, you did. Sorry, it just gave me a shiver up my spin, my Aura is like that." Ruby said. Scarlet nodded.

"They were trying to take someone with aura the other day... anyway! You said to call because you had something for me?" she asked.

"Yup, go to the transporter. I have to go now, Gemma is coming over with Walter for dinner. Send a letter about it." Ruby smiled as she signed off the phone. Scarlet went to the transporter and picked up the package, opening the paper. Inside was a hat, much like Ash's and Ruby's, but the Poké ball symbol was white.

"Whoa!" Scarlet said, grinning and putting it on. Tradition, right? "One tradition I like! Whoop!" Hey!

* * *

**Me: Another chapter, I am finally on track. **

**Name: ****Julian "July" Sienna. Don't EVER call him Julian. EVER**

**Nickname: Juli/July**

**Age: 15**

**DOB: Unspecified**

**Hometown: Sunnyshore City, Sinnoh**

**Hair: Spiky, dark brown and tinted red.**

**Eyes: ****Emerald green, with a mischievous spark in them. They fade to a light green around December for some reason, and darken along with his mood**

**Clothes: ****A black t-shirt with a flame pattern along the bottom, jeans that were dyed dark blue, white sneakers with black designs, red tinted goggles that are lazily perched on his head, and black fingerless gloves.**

**Occupation: Trainer**

**Personality:****Adventurous, July's motto must be, "act first, think later." He's always rushing into things, which annoys his friends because of the consequences. He's caring, and will not hesitate to attack anyone threatening his friends and family. He loves his twin sisters, Avril and Juliet, although it's mostly a love-hate relationship XD He has a large appetite, but he doesn't pig out too much, because of a T.V. show his mother tricked him into watching when he was seven. He still has nightmares about it now. A bit sarcastic, and his best friend is December Moon, although in comparison, the two are opposites, but not completely, the only fact is that they are named after Winter and Summer, and while July has a slightly fiery attitude, and December is more cooled, the two still get along fine. He's pretty overprotective of her, and usually snaps at ANYONE attempting to touch her.**

**Family: ****Avril Sienna- Little sister**

** Juliet Sienna- Little sister**

** Mai Sienna- Mother**

** ? Sienna- Father -STATUS UNKNOWN-**

**Pokémon: ****Dusk- A male Umbreon**

** Sprite- A female permanently sugar-high Vulpix**

** Flare- A male Blaziken**

** Storm- A male Pikachu**

** Tornado- A male Charizard**

** Nightmare- A male Absol**

**Future Pokémon: ME NO SAY!**

**Goals: Unspecified **

**Crush: December Moon**

**Back-story: ****When he was five years old, his mom took him to Snowpoint City to visit one of her friends. The woman was recently widowed, and Mai took it upon herself to live with her friend until she recovered. July grew up playing with December, and when the two turned ten, they both left on their journey together. July had a small crush on December when they first met, and it seems to be growing stronger each day, although he is almost oblivious to the fact that December returns his feelings.**

**Name: December Moon**

**Nickname:****Deci, Ember, Bre, Luna, Moonite, Berlitz (Mostly Deci, Berlitz and**

**Moonite.)**

**Age: 15**

**DOB: Unspecified **

**Hometown: Snowpoint, Sinnoh**

**Hair: ****Black, wavy, goes down to the midpoint of her back, and has white and blue streaks.**

**Eyes: Ice blue, change depending on mood. **

**Ex: Red= furious  
Orange= anxious  
Yellow= Unsure of something  
Light Green= Peaceful  
Dark Green= Thoughtful  
Light Blue= Happy  
Blue= This is when she acts a bit more random. It doesn't occur too often, but when her eyes do change to that particular colour, you should avoid her.  
Ice-Blue= Normal  
Dark Blue= Sad/Depressed  
Indigo= Shocked  
Light Pink= Embarrassed  
Amber= Murderous  
Black-Amber= Upset**

**Clothes: ****She wears a white beret with a blue ribbon, a light blue skirt that goes to her mid-thigh with white leggings underneath, white running shoes, a white tank-top with blue snowflakes, a white scarf around her neck with blue, red and green beads, and gold earrings with a red ribbon and green bell on each one. She has a white messenger bag to store her things on the go :D (NOTE: She stands at a rather strange height of 5'2", and is very light. It's easy to make her mad with this fact. Make one teeny tiny comment about her height, and YOU. ARE. DEAD. She can also be lifted over someone's shoulder, and she usually ends up pounding the person's back with her fists, screaming bloody murder at them as she's carried away. She's rather mad that July towers over her.)**

**Occupation: Coordinator/Trainer**

**Personality: ****She's usually quiet, kind, and calm, but sometimes she has emotional outbursts. Most try not to make her mad- their life depends on it. She can be all shy one minute, but bursting out, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" She's famously known for her spaz attacks (XD)She also gives anyone**

**teasing- or making the slightest comment- on her height hell.**

**Family: ****We ain't know nothing about her family XD Except her father's dead, and her sister is named after another month of the year, and her mother is somewhere vacationing in Hoenn. Methinks that is all you need to know...**

**Pokémon: ****Glacia- A female Glaceon**

** Pixie- A female Shiny Vulpix**

** Chloe- A female Growlithe**

** Aurora- A male Dewgong**

** Fairy- A female Togepi. The baby of the group**

** Gracidea, a Shaymin**

**Future Pokémon: I NO TELL!**

**Goals: Unspecified. **

**Crush: Julian Sienna **

**Back-story: ****Her father died when she was nine, and her mother's friend Mai went to live with them, along with her son July. The two became the best of friends, and are now journeying together.**

** R&R!**


	13. Ep 12: I thought we had no secrets!

**Me: And we finally take a break from _new_ OC! That's right, old OC are coming back! Whoop! Seriously, are you guys fed up with OC yet? Cos they're BACK! Whoop! (I say that way too much...) Here we go.**

**Warning: Sensitive Stuff, people. If it disturbs you too much then look away.**

**Episode 12- No secrets, I thought we had no secrets!**

**"So, our heroes are finally on their way to Floaroma, and I am still alive... though Authoress had to come from Viridian to the real world hospital to record this. I should be helping them record the new series voiceovers! OW! OK! OK!"**

"I seriously worry about that poor guy." Scarlet said. I don't, he recovers... normally. "My point exactly."

"I have to admit, the past few chapters he has taken more than his fair share of abuse the past few chapters." Auberon said. You just said 'the past few chapters' twice in the same sentence. "And?" Did you go to school? "Trainer school, yeah."

"They didn't teach him normal lessons; they thought it would be too much for him to understand." Scarlet said. "Complex strategies, fine! One plus one, no way." That explains it *sweatdrop*.

"I wonder who'll be at this contest." Indigo said. "Do you think we'll see Nathen and Co. or Kira and Lance?"

"Yay!" Nevee cheered.

"Probably not, it hasn't been long enough since the last time we saw N and Co. and Kira and Lance were at the last contest." Auberon said. "She doesn't have them reappearing that often." Sometimes they do it by themselves! Crystal won the last contest you were at!

"Yeah, I forgot." Scarlet said. Jaspa, do you actually have a goal?

"Not particularly." He replied. You're really a barrel of fun and laughs, aren't you? "Researching is my thing." As long as you don't dissect Bulby! "Drat." O.o Everyone's reaction was similar.

"You were gonna cut up little Bulbasaur?" Nevee said in a small voice. Jaspa, if that was some attempt at humour please SOS (save our souls)! By the look on Jaspa's face... oh god it was an attempt at humour, wasn't it?

"I'm hiding now." Scarlet said, pulling the brim of her new hat over her face. Oh, real good Scarlet. *sarcasm be noted*

"Where'd you get that hat anyway?" Indigo asked. Scarlet pulled the brim back up.

"Mom." She replied. Asher sat happily on one of her shoulders, conversing with Buneary on her other shoulder and Mudkip who was on Indigo's head. So, Indigo, what is it like to have a Pokémon on your head?

"Shut up, Natasha was annoying." Indigo hissed. I agree with you there.

Suddenly Jaspa screamed- like a girl I might add- as a tiny figure in blue jumped onto his back.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Gotcha! Finally, some sign of life from him!" The girl giggled as she jumped down, adjusting her beanie. Her twin, slightly taller than her, walked from behind a bush, smile on her face.

"Hi guys." She said. Jaspa recovered from his miniature panic attack and turned to the short girl.

"Destiny, you just scared the hell out of me!" Jaspa yelled. Tiny shrugged.

"Hey!" Destiny objected. "Don't call me that, mom!" Sorry. She turned back to Jaspa. "Didn't mean to make ya have a heart attack, dude."

"Whatever." Jaspa said.

"How are you lot?" Hope asked.

"We're good, had a few close shaves here and there, but we're fine." Scarlet smiled. "You?"

"Well, you guys are the only ones with continuous drama, without mom narrating most have a normal journey." Hope replied.

"Except the ones she adds to the torture." Auberon said. Destiny face palmed.

"Not again mom! That happened with PA and look what happens to all of them!" She said. SHH! You'll give my Poke Academy plot away! Shhhhh!

"You have other stories?" Nevee asked. Yup. "OK!"

"How many?" Scarlet asked with shifty eyes. Um... currently running about three, but all together thirty five. "What?" Hey, you're my priority!

"I guess I can live with that then." Auberon said. Good.

"You're heading to Floaroma?" Hope asked.

"Sure are." Indigo said. Mudkip ran down her arm and got into a conversation with Bubbles and Flower, shortly followed by Buneary and Asher. Auberon decided, too, he hadn't let his Turtwig out in a while and let him out, soon joined by Eve and Cynders.

"Us too, Hope wants to get design ideas from the flowers and all that, I may be tempted to see what all the fuss about the contests is too." Destiny said. You in a contest? That'd be entertaining. "Gee, thanks for ya support."

"Who is Gee everyone keeps going on about? Sophie is the only invisibubble person here!" Nevee said. Everyone sighed.

"C'mon, we'll tag along as no doubt mom will make us anyway." Hope smiled. You got that right.

"Let's go!"

* * *

"Ah thank the gods! A _bed_!" Destiny said as she collapsed onto the Pokémon centre bed. "We've been tenting for the past few days."

"We haven't had a proper bed for a couple of days; we passed through Jubilife earlier today." Scarlet said, sitting on her bunk. Hope clambered up to her top bunk and hugged her pillow.

"Ah.... what a relief!" She sighed happily. Indigo laughed.

"I'm going to get some food, anyone joining me?" She asked, swinging her legs to stand up. No.

"Nope." Scarlet said. "I'll eat after a nap."

"Not me." Nevee said. "Sophie isn't hungry yet." Destiny was already asleep and Hope about to drift off so Indigo walked out on her own.

She walked into the canteen and grabbed a burger, sitting at a table and eating it slowly before throwing the tray onto the side and exiting the canteen. As Indigo walked toward the room through a dark corridor she didn't remember walking through to get there she soon realised she was lost.

"Damn." She cursed. Sighing she turned back around, ready to head in the opposite direction only to see a familiar bluenette boy. "What- What're you d-doing here D-Dax?" Indigo stuttered. Dax smirked.

"The contest. I didn't expect to see you here." He said. Indigo backed off one step. "No use running."

"I-I'm not." Indigo said. Dax grabbed her wrist tightly, pulling her close to him. "Let go!"

"No." He said, spinning her and then twisting her arm behind her, making her wince in pain, teeth gritted. "Why would I?" His nails dug into her wrist.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaspa had also made the elementary mistake of going down the wrong corridor, about to turn back when he heard a familiar voice.

"Let go!"

_Indigo..._ he thought. _What is she doing down here, and who is she telling to let go?_ Curiously he walked around a corner, ducking back behind it when he saw Dax, only poking his head around the wall.

"No." Dax said, he spun her so she was now facing toward the corner Jaspa was hid behind, arm still behind her back. Indigo's face was one of pure pain, wincing and teeth gritted, tears forming in her eyes. Jaspa could feel his blood boiling, not in the way it normally did either. This was... different. "Why would I?" Jaspa's fists clenched.

"Please!" Indigo begged, voice breaking. Dax just pulled her arm harder and pulled at her hair, making Indigo scream once. Dax let go of her hair and wrist, throwing her to the floor and kicking her side hard. Indigo yelped. Jaspa felt his anger getting stronger, fists so tight his nails- short, very short nails- were digging into his palms. His teeth were grinding against each other roughly.

Indigo tried to sit up, but was kicked down again.

"Please! Stop!" She pleaded **(Oh god... this is actually getting hard to write...)** as Dax pulled her up, slapping her across the face hard. Dax then threw her against the wall before walking off.

"Goodbye for now, sis." He snarled before laughing with no humour and leaving. Jaspa stuck close to the wall as he walked past, once he left he ran to Indigo, who didn't notice him at first. She sat, knees hugged to her chest and crying with her face buried in her knees.

"I-Indigo?" Jaspa stuttered, Indigo didn't look up. "Indigo? It's me, Jaspa."

"I know it's you." Indigo sniffed. "Go away."

"Indigo, Dax just... abused you." Jaspa said.

"I think I noticed!" The girl snapped. Jaspa frowned.

"Are you going to be OK?" He asked.

"Why the hell would you care?"

Jaspa was taken aback, hurt contorting his features. Why was this hurting him so much? He never felt this hurt, ever.

"Because you're my friend." He said after a moment. Indigo scoffed. "What?"

"You. Saying you're my friend when all you do is read, read, research, read and then read s'more!" Indigo said, face still in her knees. Jaspa frowned again.

"Look. I may be a bit cold, yes, I know. But that is who I am! I care about you!"

"No. You. DON'T!" Indigo yelled, face snapping up, tears in her eyes and a large bruise forming on her cheek. "You don't even care about Nevee, your twin! Don't give me that crap." Jaspa could feel tears stinging his eyes, but forced them back. "Go away."

"At least let me help you up." Jaspa insisted. Sighing Indigo gave him her unhurt wrist and he pulled her to her feet where she quickly walked off. She pushed her hair over the side of her face where the bruise was, ready to put make-up over it when she reached the room. "**No secrets, I thought we had no secrets**!"

"That was not to you."

"You're keeping it from Scarlet! The one you made the promise to!"

"Don't say anything." She said.

"But-..."

"No buts, Jaspa, don't tell anyone." Indigo hissed before running off, a slight limp to her steps. Jaspa saw one tear drop to the floor. The camera zoomed on it, watching the moisture splash in slow motion.

"That last bit was melodramatic." Jaspa said. "I mean the tear drop zoom." I know... but this is a dramatic moment... "I can't believe... has he always?" Yeah... "DAMMIT!" Jaspa yelled, punching the nearest wall hard, making the light on it flicker.

He thought back to the few times he had seen Indigo come over to his house when they were younger, he was normally in his room for the majority of the visits.

Her arms had bruises everyone had always put down to her clumsy nature, even her parents. Dax had been a perfect child.

The earliest big unusual bruise he remembered was when she was four and Dax seven.

Jaspa rested his head on the wall and let his tears flow, for the first time in ages.

* * *

**Me: And that was the hardest thing I have ever written. I've been listening to 'Concrete Angel' this entire chapter, it's about child abuse, it seemed fitting. Go listen, I can almost guarantee it will make you cry. It made me cry. R&R...**


	14. Ep13:Fighting the enemy you dont know of

**Me: A happier chapter with a little shock, and no extra OC other than Tiny and Hope! Whoop! Phew, thank god. Oh! Check out my profile, I have links to a couple of things I made for this and also a poll! **

**Destiny: Don't call me tiny! **

**Me: I'll do what I like, young lady! Go to your- wait! I'm the young me, WTH am I doing? GEM!**

**Gem: What? I AM YOU! **

**Me: I'll sort this out whilst you read. *sigh***

**Episode 13- Fighting the Enemy you don't realise you have**

**"I am not supposed to comment on last chapter... The contest is beginning! Destiny has actually decided to try and prove her mom wrong and entered. Will the authoress do proper full contest battles? Will she make proper appeals? Will Scarlet win?"**

"He's alive?" Scarlet exclaimed, adjusting her knee length red dress that had straps holding it up, and a ribbon tied around it under the chest. Yup, I didn't feel like killing him yet, I need him to do the narration. "Are you going to put that dress description every time?" Yep, unless I change your outfit.

"I hate you, mom." Destiny hissed as she walked out, holding a coat over her outfit. Hey, take the coat off! Reluctantly she pulled off the coat and showed her outfit. A white, strapless, knee length dress that ruffled from the waist down, there was a blue section from just under the bust to the waist (just before the ruffles) and she had light blue flats on.

"You look great, Destiny. Don't worry." Scarlet smiled. Destiny sighed and turned to the screen. "Who're you using?"  
"Bubbles and if I get far enough my new Seedot." She replied. "I caught him near Eterna."

"Eterna?" Scarlet exclaimed, earning a few strange looks from people. Destiny nodded.

"We got a lift on Dad's Dragonite to Eterna, the only place the damn thing remembers in Sinnoh. So, naturally, it was where we had to get off." Destiny said. I hate that thing... "Tell me about it."

"Right..." Scarlet said.

**_"Welcome to this year's Floaroma contest! I'm your MC, Lillian! And here are our judges!"_**

"I'm ignoring the judges calls, they annoy the hell outta me!" Scarlet said. I agree.

"I've never heard them but I'll take your advice." Destiny said. That's a good idea. "One of many." Sure... whatever you say.

"Hello." Someone said, the two girls looked to their right and saw Dax, standing there in a full tux.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

In the stands Jaspa was colder and quieter than usual, head buried in his magazine and ignoring everything around him, even the annoying tapping Nevee was making on his shoulder. Indigo was leaning on the rail, short hair covering the sides of her face more than normal, eyes focused on the appeals going on below, the blue duller than usual.

"Are you OK, Indigo?" Hope asked. Indigo gave her a smile and nodded, resting her head back on her arms- which were on the rail- again. "OK."

"You do seem quiet, Indigo." Auberon commented. Indigo shook her head.

"I'm just focused on the appeals, elf. I'm fine." She lied, casting a short glance at Jaspa before looking back to the stage again. Just as she did Dax walked on.

**_"And here we have Dax Sketchit!" _**Lillian announced, look at her, not even a wrinkle! You aren't vampires are you? "No, I am not a vampire." Good. "They don't exist." *nervous laugh*

Dax flicked his hair, his bloodline's trademark, and then calmly threw a Poké ball. Out of it popped out an Absol, his eyes were darker than others of his kind, his fur black and the blue on him a dark navy blue.

"Shadow, use Thunder." Dax said calmly. The dark type fired off the powerful thunder attack, leaving a large ball of electricity sitting in the air, covering most of the stage. "Razor wind and then leap."

Shadow threw his head back, then swishing it roughly making a large white, arched light fired from his horn. Just as the attack lost contact with him Shadow leapt in front of the attack, jumping into the electricity ball. A few people gasped in shock as the second attack collided with the electricity with the Absol still in it.

The thunder attack burst out, sparkles and sparks flying everywhere. Shadow stood in the middle of it all, feet safely on the floor and looking straight at the judges.

Claps echoed through the building. (Stupid people...)

"Amazing performance."

"Outstanding!" Yay! Good job, Sukizo.

"Brilliant." You too.

Dax took a very overstated bow and then walked of, casually returning Shadow with no thanks to the Pokémon.

* * *

"He never ceases to amaze me with his performances." Scarlet said. "Thank god that and the eyes was all he inherited from his father." The eyes are all it takes... I love green eyes but the vile shade of lime he has disgusts me. "Hey! Don't judge him on his dad!" I'm not.

"I'm dreading my turn." At what? "Appeals, duh!" Sorry, I have my mind set on the planning of a new region _and_ the NEXT generation. I'm making Pokoh official now! Whoop! "Where?" Nothing you need to know, only your kids. "I don't want kids to go through your torture, so I won't have any." Don't bet on it. I already have the next gen planned! Well, four of them.

"Hello again ladies." Dax said as he walked over. "The voice still bothering you?" *snarl*

"Yes, she is." Ow! Did you seriously just virtually elbow me? "Yes." Destiny added with a smirk on her face. I would ground you, but you're not home.

"You two are strange..." Scarlet said. Yeah, I should not have included my children in this. "Not what I meant but, whatever makes ya happy."

"I'll take all that as a yes." Dax said. "I can't express how glad I am to know I don't have to suffer narration all the time." I can't express how glad I am that I don't have to see you every chapter! *snarl* "Whatever do you mean?" *snarl*

"O....K.... go spy on the guys in the bleachers, you obviously have something against Dax." Scarlet said. No need.

**_"And next up is Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!"_** Lillian announced.

"Oh." Scarlet said, running off.

* * *

"Buneary, let's go!" Scarlet called. She had trainer Buneary especially the evening before, and she was prepared to compete. Buneary popped out surrounded by a group of pink hearts, blowing kisses.... is this one related to Dawn's? Seriously. Asher was hopping up and down on the bleachers. Aw, love 'ey?

Buneary hopped onto the floor, bouncing up high once before landing with a flip on the ground, winking at everyone. Scarlet rolled her eyes at the Pokémon before calling out the next move.

"Use swift, Buneary!" Whoa, you got lucky catching her! "I know."

The gold stars flew through the air, curling into shapes.

"Ice beam!" Ruby- I mean Scarlet called. Whoa... how did I get that wrong? I must miss the last bunch too much... "Hey!"

The beam of ice, as suggested by the name (*sweatdrop*), fired and hit all the stars, but instead of freezing all of them some burst into sparkles whilst some, frozen, made a pyramid of stars. Buneary used bounce and hopped onto the top of the pyramid, surrounded by sparkles. And as if _that_ wasn't enough she used dizzy punch on the miles, breaking it into shards of ice all around her as she landed on the floor and bowed. Scarlet sweatdropped. Not planned?

"Nope." Scarlet replied.

"Beautifully performed."

"Extraordinary!" Whoop!

"Very nice." So boring that time, Joy.

* * *

On the edge of the bleachers the two designers, Hope and Nevee, had poor Mudkip, Flower, Eve and even _Asher_ in little cheerleader outfits. Mudkip in orange, Flower in pink, Eve in white and Asher in... a flowery print. Nevee made that?

"Sure did." Auberon snickered, earning a glare of extreme hatred and fire from Asher, and I mean the fire bit. He had fires burning in his eyes. Auberon backed off, making him fall over the back of his seat and onto the lap of the person behind him. The woman had _purple hair_ back in a bun and wearing a very conspicuous outfit of a _hot pink_ top and mini-mini skirt. "Sorry." Auberon said as he scrambled back to his chair. The woman gave the man with blonde hair beside her a look and the two ran out, a tiny 'toddler' running behind them. Oh boy...

"That was, strange." Indigo said, now not looking at the stage as Destiny still had a while to wait to come on.

"Tell me about it." Auberon said. "But not as strange as _that_." He added, pointing to Asher being forced to dance with the female Pokémon. "I am so glad I left my Turtwig's Poké ball in the storage in the foyer." Uh oh... be right back.

"Where ya going?" Nevee asked. Need to know, and you don't need to know. Bye!

* * *

"Hurry up, Gareth!" The woman from earlier yelled at the blonde man. "Those Poké balls won't steal themselves!"

"I am!" Gareth shouted back, putting lots of Poké balls into the bag with help from the 'toddler'. The disguises were soon discarded revealing TRm3. Typical, 'ey?

"Dis is ridiculous!" Meowth said. "We shud beh makin' millions in Chicago or sumfin'!" Chicago? What the hell, Meowth, you guys shouldn't even know Chicago exists! "Eep!" HA!

"Ignore her, she can't do anything." Gwen said. Oh, so who is this?

Gem dropped into the foyer, smirking at the team.

"Shit." Gareth said. Gem chuckled and threw a Poké ball, and her Jolteon (Jolt) appeared. Gem, before attacking with Jolt, made a blue sphere appear around the bag of Poké balls, bringing them over to her.

"How...?" Gareth explained.

"I've been able to use it for a good decade now, thank god TUA can't get to me." Gem said. "Jolt, thunderbolt."

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN! I NEVER WANTED TO FEEL THAT ATTACK!" Gem disappeared, the Poké balls all appearing in place.

I just couldn't not have aura now almost everyone else has it, hee-hee.

* * *

Back!

"Damn." Jaspa said, glaring at me with _my own_ death glare! How dare you! Good to see your voice box still works anyway.

"Where did you go?" Auberon asked. His Poké ball dropped into his lap from nowhere. "Huh?" TR. "Oh."

"Again?" Indigo said. As always.

"Look, Destiny is coming on!" Hope said, leaning over the side slightly. That is the most excited I have seen you since your dad last visited. "I miss dad." I know, me too.

"Go Bubbles!" Destiny called, throwing her Poké balls and almost tripping up. "Damn heels." You don't have heels! "Look, Scarlet made me put some on." Oh boy... She is going girly.

Bubbles popped out surrounded by bubbles from a borrowed seal, popping all of them with his tail.

"Now use Bubble and then Ice-Beam!" Destiny called. Bubbles blew bubbles, hee-hee, and then fired off ice-beam, freezing them all in mid air before 'swimming' in the air and then popping them all with ice-beam, making water droplets surround the water type.

"Beautiful." Not you now, seriously.

"Cool." Trying to 'get down with the kids' now are you, Mr Sukizo?

"A great performance."

"Yeah right." Destiny mumbled as she walked off, tripping a few times because of the heels.

* * *

A little while later it was time to find out who got through, Dax had a confident smirk on his face, Destiny looked bored and Scarlet had her fingers crossed.

"C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon." Scarlet said over and over.

**_"Sorry for the long wait! Here are the four people progressing to the next round!" _**Lillian announced. Scarlet's jittering got worse, bouncing slightly like she needed the toilet.

On the board four cards appeared, back to us. Then the first turned.

Dax.

The next: Frankie

Then: Lucy.

And finally....

**_Scarlet Stone-Ketchum._**

Scarlet let out a squeal so high it couldn't be heard by humans. Wow...

"Good for ya, Scarlet." Destiny said whilst holding her ears. You do realise that it wouldn't have hurt your ears because you can't hear it? "Yup." OK then.

"I actually got through!" Scarlet cheered. Don't act so happy, look at the match ups... Both girls did so and Scarlet was not happy. Dax Sketchit was her first contest battle opponent. "OK, that was unexpected and unwanted. I never thought I'd have to battle someone as strong as him this soon!"

"Thank you for the compliment." Dax said as he walked over. "Now, I think we better head to the stage."

"Yup. Cya in a bit, Destiny! Go to the others when you've changed back!" Scarlet called as she followed Dax to the exits.

* * *

"Let's, Get, Busy!" Lillian called.

"Go Asher!" Scarlet called, throwing her Poké ball. Asher, now rid of the dreadful outfit, popped out surrounded by flames which he caught with his tail flame, making it burn bigger and brighter. He put on a cute face, but he's already cute so it made a lot of people 'aww'. I heart Asher, I really do.

"Roserade." Dax said, idly tossing the Poké ball. A majestic Roserade appeared surrounded by flowers it casually blew away with a breath. "Weather Ball."  
"Dax, I thought you were smarter than that." Scarlet called across the field. "It's sunny, fire attacks do next to nothing on Asher!"

Dax smirked. "Rain dance first."

"S-..." FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND DIE! "S-... Sugar?" OK, I'll let that one slide. "Use Smokescreen!"

Smoke covered the field, leaving Roserade unable to see where to aim the attack she held between her 'bouquets'.

"Just fire, Roserade." Dax said. Still reluctant the Pokémon fired off the attack, and by some sheer bloody luck it his Asher directly. Scarlet screamed when the water came dangerously close to the fire on his tail.

"Stop!" She yelled, the rain was making the clothes they all wore stick to them, her hair flat and messy from the moisture. "Asher was almost killed then!" Scarlet exclaimed, running onto the smoke covered field, grabbing Asher and hugging him close. "If that water had hit his tail..."

"I'm sorry." Dax said. Gasp! I can't believe I just heard someone from the Blackthorne bloodline say sorry!

"No matter." Scarlet sighed. "Second contest, second loss. I can deal with it, Aunt Alex did."

* * *

Dax won. *snarl*

"Oh stop it." Scarlet said. Jaspa was walking, hands balled into fists, hidden in his pockets, as he heard Dax mentioned. Indigo gave him a glare.

"Ah well, Scarlet will win next time." Auberon said, arm friendlily around her shoulder. Scarlet rolled her eyes and shrugged out of it.

"I don't think he shoulda won!" Nevee said. "He almost killed Ashy!"

"Its fine, N-...." Hope started.

"No it isn't!" Nevee snarled. Everyone looked at her, her eyes had gone red, voice (whilst still angry and sinister) musical. This wasn't the Nevee we are all used to.

"Nevee?" Destiny said. Then Nevee was back to normal, like nothing had happened, big grin on her face.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" She asked.

"Why the hell did you just snarl at us?" Scarlet said. Jaspa was looking at his sister with wide eyes, confused. He had a theory, but wouldn't tell. It was worrying.

"I didn't." Nevee said, confused face on.

"Yes you did!" Indigo said. Nevee shook her head. "Never mind... must be the medication Gem gave her the other day or something, come on."

Slowly the group walked off, Hope and Destiny walking off a separate path halfway toward the horizon.

"Where now?" Auberon asked.

"The next route for sleep and then Eterna City." Scarlet replied.

"Whoop!" Nevee cheered. Everyone laughed, determined to forget what had occurred with her a minute ago.

This is worrying... really worrying. Jaspa?

_We both know what's happening, don't we?_ He thought. Yes. I'm scared.

* * *

**Me: Whoop! Chapter at last! As I said, for the past couple of days all my efforts have been on making Pokoh properly, plenty of Fakemon to make and town and a MAP! Also, everyone guess what's happening to Nevee! It won't happen properly for a while yet, but still. It's fun to see people's guesses. R&R!**


	15. Ep 14: Ghosties and talks and shocks

**Me: Back again and chances are I did most of this at some random relative's house. So, here we go... oh! No one guessed what was wrong with Nevee? *pouts* C'mon! Legendary Fairy said she had an idea but won't tell, and pokemon2471 did, but everyone else! Please? Lol.**

**Episode 14- Ghosties and talks and shocks**

**"And we're back again after a very devastating loss for Scarlet and a very strange incident with Nevee, and our heroes are about to enter Eterna Forest."**

"Me no wanna go in spooky forest!" Nevee whined as they arrived at Eterna Forest's entrance.

"Nevee, nothing is gonna get you, promise." Scarlet said.  
"Pinky promise?" Nevee asked.

"Yes." Scarlet said. The two linked pinkies and then Nevee, clinging tight to her very annoyed brother, followed the rest into the forest.

"It is dark in here..." Indigo murmured, unconsciously taking a step toward Jaspa, who was actually looking at her from the corner of his eye.

BOO!

Surprisingly it was actually Auberon who let out the girly scream this time. Dude, seriously?

"What? I'm paranoid and you yelled BOO, I'm gonna be scared." Auberon said, blush on his light brown cheeks. Scarlet smacked him around the back of the head.

"Sissy." She said. Auberon glared at her, and she glared back. Oh man, this may take a while. It's a glaring battle and I am not being referee, stop it guys! Both growled but stopped. Thank you.

"Hurry up, let's get outta here." Indigo said, grabbing her friends' wrists and dragging them off, Jaspa – Nevee still clinging to him – followed.

"Oh, and by the way, Mr. Voiceover man, it wasn't that devastating a loss." Scarlet called.

**"Just reading the script, people."**

"Right..."

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Please don't say we're lost!" Scarlet said. Jaspa looked at the map.

"We're not lost." He said.

"But we are, aren't we?" Indigo sighed.

"Yes." Jaspa said. "Lost as ever, guys."

"Dammit!" Auberon yelled. "THIS WORLD IS OUT TO GET ME!" Paranoid...

"Well, where do we go now?" Scarlet asked. Everyone looked around the forest around them, trees, trees and more trees until all looked in the same direction and saw a big house, spooky looking of course, but it was a big house.

"Hey, maybe there's someone there who can give us directions!" Auberon suggested. Scarlet gave the house a look.

"I don't know, our families don't have much luck with big spooky houses." Scarlet said cautiously.

"Oh c'mon, let's be mystery inc! I'm Shaggy, Scarlet is Velma, Indigo is Daphne, Jaspa is a very boring Fred and Nevee can be Scooby!" Auberon said. Scarlet face-palmed.

"How the hell am I Velma?" She yelled, red vain thing appearing on her temple. Auberon backed off.

"Yeah, I am more Velma than here, and that is a statement and a half." Indigo said. "Since when was I a fashion crazy red headed version of a bimbo?" Don't dis Scooby Doo, my little sister will get you. "She can't." I still have the device. "I'll shut up now." Good girl.

"Let's just go." Jaspa said, shrugging 'Scooby' off and pushing his hands into his pockets, walking toward the house. Everyone followed after a moment of staring at him in shock at the fact he actually decided to go to the house by himself.

"C'mon gang, lets, like, go hunt out some help!" Auberon said in a really bad Shaggy impression. Both Indigo and Scarlet smacked him round the back of the head and walked off.

"Scooooooby Dooooooby Dooooooo!" Nevee yelled before following. O...K...

* * *

"I don't like the look of this place." Auberon said.

"Says the one who suggested coming here as bloody mystery inc in the first place." Scarlet said, glaring at him. Auberon, if you glare back I will bloody kill you!

"Dammit." He hissed. Jaspa sighed at them all.

"How's about we split up?" Indigo said. Oh boy! You guys are turning into !

"Alright." Jaspa said. "Since I am Fred then I choose Indigo to come with me, and the others can all go off together, alright? Good, now go." Pushy or what, man?

Everyone just did as they were told, he may not be very good at hitting but he can insult you to your knees, people! No joke!

I'll follow the trio first.

"Oh joy." Auberon said. Oi, don't use that tone of voice on me, mister! Auberon stuck his tongue out. *sigh* Immature people, 'ey?

The trio headed off between the two large staircases, whilst Indigo and Jaspa went up the left staircase. I don't envy you, that place is supposed to be haunted. _Shh, don't tell 'em about Rotom!_

Nevee was scared now, hugging close to Scarlet because of the scary portraits of a girl with long brown hair and blue eyes and several of an old man and woman.

"Hello?" Auberon called, the voice echoing back. "Anybody there?"

"I don't like this..." Scarlet said. "Something doesn't seem right about this house." You mean Chateau. "Whatev-... SAY WHAT? As in the Old Chateau? The haunted house with some freaky thing that makes appliances come to life Old Chateau?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H!" Nevee screamed, running around like a headless Torchix until she banged headfirst into a wall. The other two sweatdropped and pulled her up. Seriously, Auberon, you shouldn't have mentioned because now you're all acting like them!

"Sorry." Auberon mumbled. Now, people, get a move on.

"Let's go in there, maybe someone is around and can help us?" Scarlet suggested, pointing to a door at the end of the dining room.

* * *

"Why do I have to come with you?" Indigo asked as they walked along one of the long corridors.

"I am seriously worried about what happened the other day." Jaspa said. Indigo turned away making Jaspa sigh. "Indigo..."

"Look, you never care normally so why should it be any different now you know what happens to me?" Indigo snapped. Jaspa grabbed her wrist and stopped her, spinning her to look at him. He stared at her blue eyes.

"No, you look Indigo. You are all my friends and I care about you all, I may be a bit cold at times but I just can't help it. I'm a nerd, I can't help it. I have a lot more things to worry about now too." Jaspa said. "Nevee, _you_..."

"Nevee?"

"That doesn't matter. You're hurt, Indigo!" Jaspa yelled, pulling his arm from her wrist and clenching his fists. Indigo took a step toward him, only for him to take one away. "Stay back, my temper is very hard to control, Indigo." Indigo took a step or two away. "Thank you. Give me a minute, I need to calm down."

"Jaspa... what is wrong with Nevee?" Indigo asked.

"Don't try and change the subject, Indigo. You get beaten, you are hurt, you won't tell anyone." Jaspa said, fists still clenched tightly by his sides. "How long?"

"Huh?"

"How long has he been doing this to you?" Indigo looked down.

"Since I found out when I was four. I kept saying that he wasn't my brother because we didn't have the same 'daddy' and he hit me." Indigo said. "He just hit me once at first. I tried not to mention about him being my brother or not but I avoided him which made him hit me more."

Jaspa's fists clenched impossibly tight. "That bloody B-..."

"Jaspa!" Indigo shouted. The name echoed down the hallway. "Stop it, you're going to hurt someone or yourself!"

"Run." Jaspa said. "Before I lose it, run."

"What...?"

"Just do it!" Jaspa snapped, spinning to look at her with red eyes. Indigo screamed and ran off.

* * *

"Was that a scream?" Nevee said in a panicked voice. Scarlet shuddered slightly.

"Leave it, Indigo probably saw a plant and thought it was moving, c'mon!" Auberon said. They walked through the kitchen. Scarlet saw a window and looked out.

"Whoa, it's dark already?" She said. The trio all looked out to the dark sky.

"We did walk faster than we thought, Scarlet, we haven't camped yet. Of course it would be dark by now." Auberon reassured. Scarlet just nodded and stuck close to him. "Well, whatever controlled the appliances is gone." He added, pulling open the door to the fridge.

"Good!" Nevee said, somehow still cheerful whilst still sounding scared.

"Back through the dining room and to find the others, there's no one here." Scarlet urged. The trio walked back into the dining room and started back to the door when they all saw a girl with brown hair and blue eyes sitting on top the dining table.

"Oh my god..." Scarlet gasped. The girl smiled at them and then disappeared. **(God, the game does that, doesn't it?)**

"That-..." Auberon started.

"-Was-..." Scarlet said.

"-STRANGE!" Finished Nevee. *sigh* Even when scared you're insane.

"Let's get out of here." Auberon said, the others nodded and they ran off.

* * *

Indigo stopped a little while after she ran, panting for breath.

"What...?" She gasped. "Was that?"

"Indigo?" Jaspa's voice called, Indigo was too tired to run. A second later Jaspa walked in, looking very solemn and sorry. "Indigo..."

"Leave it. Go away." Indigo replied. "What was that?" She added afterwards.

"I can't say..." Jaspa said. "Let's find the others, Indigo." Indigo walked off ahead of him, but he caught up in what seemed like a blur, but that may just be my eyesight. "Indigo, the corridors are very hard to navigate, you need to stay close." Indigo looked to the side, away from him. "I won't get angry again."

"Promise?" Indigo asked. Jaspa grabbed her hand, making her stiffen and blush.

"Promise." He assured. Indigo relaxed lightly, bending her fingers to wrap over his. Jaspa smiled, a very rare occurrence with him. _Shut up_. Sorry.

"What was that?" Indigo asked again.

"Genetic hazard." Jaspa replied. "Try and figure it out." Indigo looked puzzled. "You'll see in a month or two anyway."

"OK... oh my god what is that?" Indigo exclaimed, pointing at a pale man and a woman in old fashioned clothes walking down the hallway. Jaspa spun her so she was behind his back. **(OK, these two are just so KAWAII! Love them already, people, or die! XD)**

But the people walked through a _wall_ and disappeared. Jaspa's eyes widened.

"Was that...?" He said.

"I think it was..." Indigo said, peering over his shoulder. Both looked at each other and shuddered.

"Let's get out of here." They said in unison, running off, hands still clasped.

* * *

"Guys!" Indigo called as the two ran into the main hall of the house. The trio turned and sighed in relief. Indigo ran ahead of Jaspa now, who was walking calmly behind her, hands in pockets and a very slight hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"Thank the gods, you two are OK!" Scarlet said. "We saw a bloody ghost!" Them too! "WHAT?"

"Scooooooby Dooooooby Doooooooooo!" Nevee said. "Ghosts are funny!"

"Says the girl who screamed when a Rattata ran past her leg." Auberon said making the crazy girl pout.

"Are we gonna go now?" Scarlet asked.

"Yep!" Indigo said, "C'mon!" They all walked to the door. "What about directions?"

"I found a new map." Jaspa said, holding up a map.

"When did you find that?" Indigo exclaimed. Jaspa shrugged.

"When you ran ahead. Its old, but has the right directions to get us out of here."

"Good." Auberon said.

They walked outside, heading down to the forest again. But there was something none of them noticed, in one window stood a girl with brown hair and blue eyes and two elderly people, smiling before disappearing.

Ugh, ghosts! Can't stand em.

* * *

**Me: Whoop! Chapter up, and lovely little scene for Indigo and Jaspa, so KAWAII! Lol, R&R!**


	16. Ep 15: Mysterious Referee mark 2!

**Me: OK, I _think_ there will be a new OC in here, briefly but probably there. The owner didn't leave a name, so I'll call them Anon. Oh, two people got real close with a guess last chapter, and I mean REAL close. Whoop! I'm not saying if anyone else will appear, hehe.**

**Episode 15- Mysterious Referee mark 2!**

**"What is with your titles? Ow! OK, OK! Last episode we saw our heroes running, literally, around the Old Chateau and Jaspa being as strange as Nevee was the other day. Now they are about to exit the forest and head into Eterna city! _This series is going a lot faster than the last... maybe I'll get out sooner..._"**

Don't bother scheming, dude, I have eyes and ears all over the world, that and the fact you will be staying here until the ransom is paid!

"It's been about twenty years, voiceover man, they're not paying up." Scarlet said.

**"Damn."**

Jaspa seemed slightly more relaxed today, walking with a slight smile on his face still in the customary position of having his hands in his pockets as he walked slightly closer to Indigo.

"You seem peppier." Auberon said. "What did you two _do_ in that Chateau?" Indigo and Jaspa both glared at him. "Did he have to inherit Aunt Gemma's glare?"

"Shut up." Jaspa said, walking past the elf like boy and smashing him one around the back of the head.

"OW! Always the quiet ones..." Auberon said, earning a weird look from Scarlet.

"Are we there yet? Sophie is bored!" Nevee whined. Scarlet sighed.

"Nevee, we'll be there in a minute, stop whining." She said. Nevee pouted but then returned to a conversation with the invisible girl. *Psst! Hey Nevee!*

_Wut?_ Nevee asked in her head. *How's about we scare 'em and make her talk to them?* _Yay!_ *Here we go*

"Yeah, that is funny!" Someone said from thin air. _Me! Don't tell them! XD_

To put it simply the reaction was O.o

Virtual high five, Nevee! Nevee high fived the air, and yup, I high fived back with an 'invisibubble' hand.

The group didn't recover for a few minutes after that.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

You guys alive now?

"Just about." Indigo said. Whoa, that was the first time this chapter that you _spoke_! "Shut up." Nah.

"Well, here we are." Jaspa said as they walked into the city. "Eterna city."

"Gym time!" Auberon cheered, running forward only to be pulled back by his scarf by Indigo.

"Wait, Elf, we need to restore our Pokémon and top up on supplies first, Jaspa and I will take the Pokémon, you three can take money and get supplies." Indigo said, walking off with their belts and Jaspa in tow. Auberon loosened his scarf again and peered after them with eyebrows furrowed. Scarlet peeped over his shoulder whilst Nevee was just bouncing behind them.

"Is it me or are they starting to spend a lot more time alone together?" Auberon asked.

"It's not you, I've noticed too." Scarlet said. Both exchanged a look and then widened their eyes. "No..."  
"No... Never." Auberon said before laughing. Scarlet's eyes got wider but she started to laugh too.

* * *

"~They'll be making assumptions.~" Indigo said in a sing-song voice.

"Wrong assumptions." Jaspa pointed out, hands now relaxed. Indigo giggled, making Jaspa grin at her. **(I Heart them, seriously)**

"True." Indigo managed to say through giggles. Jaspa put a friendly arm over her shoulder. "So, Pokémon?"  
"Pokémon." Jaspa said. They walked into the Pokémon Centre and handed in the Poké balls, walking out afterwards with two keys ready for that night. "So, where are we meeting them?"

"At the gym, but they'll be a while yet." Indigo said. Jaspa smiled. "You have a nice smile when you use it, Jaspa."

"Thank you." Jaspa said. "You too, dimples." He added, poking at her cheek and laughing. Indigo pouted but poked him back.

"Ow." She said, Jaspa's face dropped back to a frown.

"Oh... sorry..." He said, looking down. Indigo hugged his side.

"Don't apologise, it didn't hurt that bad." She assured, Jaspa patted her back. "Calm?"

"Give me a moment." Jaspa said, Indigo hugged him tighter as they stood still for a moment. "Calm again."

"Good, I don't like that side of you, whatever it is." Indigo said. Jaspa nodded. "Poké Mart on the horizon at two O'clock."

"Let's join the rabble again." Jaspa chuckled as they sped up.

When they reached the Mart Nevee was paying sensibly (wow) and the other two were talking in low voices and whispering. Jaspa seemed to sigh at the latter pair but Indigo dismissed it.

"Guys!" Indigo called. They turned and walked over, Auberon and Scarlet still snickering.

"Put the Pokémon with Joy?" Scarlet asked.

"Yup. And we have the keys to the rooms too." Indigo replied. Jaspa went back to his usual state.

"Gym time?" Auberon asked.

"Whatever." Jaspa said. "Let's go."

* * *

"Hi ya, I'm Nicole, but call me Bloomer. This may only be the second gym, but I'm gonna kick your ass!" A woman with long green hair in a bun greeted when they entered the gym. She was in a pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt with a green tank top over the top. "Who's the challenger?"

"Me first." Indigo said, taking a step forward, brushing her hand slightly against Jaspa's, making Scarlet snicker. "The elfy kid is after me."  
"Hey!" Auberon yelled. Everyone sweatdropped. "What?"

"Ladies first, unless you are a lady." Jaspa said with a slight smirk. Auberon glared at him.

"Alright, step up..." Nicole said.

"Indigo." Indigo said.

"Indigo." Nicole smiled. Indigo was about to walk up when someone burst through the doors.

"I'm here for a gym battle!" A girl called, behind her a male jogged up.

"Kira, what have I told you about being that rushy?" The boy sighed. Kira grinned nervously as everyone stared at her.

"Hi ya!" Nevee said, that was the last thing the group and gym leader needed before they fell over anime style.

"Um, hi." Lance said as he walked into the gym. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon." Hi guys. "Hey."

"*pant* Hi *pant* I need *pant* to *pant* pass out *pant*" Kira panted before collapsing. Lance sighed at his twin. Is she going to be OK?

"She normally is." Lance shrugged. Your mom will kill me if I lose one of ya. "I know." Oi, that's my line!

"I'll drag her to the stands if you'll help." Auberon said.

"Alright." Lance said as the two grabbed the exhausted girl and dragged her up to the stands, Scarlet, Jaspa and Nevee following them.

Indigo ran up to the semi-circle that marked the trainer's area and placed her hand on her Poké ball. You do realise how hard you have it?

"Yes." Indigo said. "I haven't a chance in hell of winning but I'm gonna try." Fighting spirit, like it.

* * *

"So, how have you been?" Lance asked.

"Fine, especially Jaspa and Indigo." Auberon said, snickering at the last bit. Jaspa gave him a shifty look, a slight glint of red flashing over his eyes for a moment making the elf boy shudder. "And Nevee lost it a couple of days ago."

"I didn't!" Nevee insisted.

"You did, Eevee." Scarlet said. "Red eyes, strange voice, real pissed." Scarlet Stone-Ketchum! "Sorry."

"That doesn't sound like Nevee." Kira said as she suddenly appeared on a chair by her twin brother.

"How you do that I will never know." Lance said with a shake of his head. "But I agree with you there."

"We thought the same thing, but I guess everyone has their moments." Scarlet shrugged.

* * *

"This is a battle between Indigo Sketchit and Nicole Bloom, or Bloomer! This will be one on one as I can only see one Poké ball full on the challenger's belt, first Pokémon to faint loses! Begin!" The ref said, her hair was past her shoulders and brunette with blonde highlights, her face was hidden by her referee hat and to be honest it was very hard to identify her. Hi! "Shut up, you'll blow it!" Sorry.

"Time to Bloom! Go Bellossom!" Nicole called, a childish glint in her black eyes.

"Go Mudkip, try and do your best!" Indigo said as she threw her Poké ball like you would a rounders/baseball. Mudkip popped out in a flash of white light. "We just have to try, buddy." Indigo said as she saw her Pokémon's confused look.

"Magical leaf!" Nicole shouted, Indigo groaned. That was not a good start. Sorry Indigo.

"No matter. Don't bother dodging!" Indigo called. The attack hit and the poor Mudkip that had only received some training because of me (^^;) and he staggered back a foot or two. "Now use tackle!" *yawn* "Shut it."

Mudkip flew forward, charging ready to use the most basic of basic attacks, Bellossom danced out of the way, giggling. Frustrated Indigo ordered water gun, which Bellossom also danced out of the path of.

"Now use Mega Drain!" Bloomer ordered, Bellossom used the attack, and Mudkip could be seen wincing as its energy was drained remotely.

"Hey, it's Dad!" Nevee exclaimed randomly making Auberon _and_ Scarlet _and_ Jaspa _and_ the twins pull her down. Asher was being made to dance with the others, but he kind of burnt the dress... I don't blame him. Buneary had to grab his hands to make him dance too, but that may be his ploy to get her to hold his hands. =3

"Mudkip, try and use Water Gun again!" Indigo called, even though she knew the battle was over.

Mudkip tried to use the attack, but that used up the last of the energy he had left. He collapsed to the floor.

"Mudkip is unable to b-..." Mystery ref started before the room was engulfed in smoke and a silhouette appeared through it.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble!  
Gwyneth: Make it double!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"Not again!" Scarlet coughed. Mystery ref. sighed. I know how you feel, I have to deal with this almost every chapter! More or less.

"Yes, again, twerpette." Gwen laughed evilly. Meowth pressed a big red button and a hand shot out, grabbing Bellossom and Mudkip, taking them back to a cage at the bottom of the giant _flower_ shaped machine. Oh lord... are they sane? Of course they aren't!

"Mudkip!" Indigo exclaimed.

"Bellossom, no!" Nicole said. Whoop, lady, you spoke! "I've been speaking!" No, you've been commanding. "Same thing?" No. "Damn."

"Buh-Bye!" Gareth said with a mocking wave.

"Not so fast!" Indigo yelled, leaping and latching onto one of the petals of the flower that I have just realised is a Sunflora. She winced from the impact on one of her bruises but ignored it, climbing up the petals.

"Indigo!" Jaspa yelled, opening his mouth just before anyone else could shout. This shocked the others. Jaspa climbed onto the side of the stands and released his Pokémon, Heya Bulby! "Vine whip." Jaspa said. Bulby looked confused but did as his trainer instructed, shocked he was even let out. Jaspa used the extra height to leap onto the Petal below Indigo.

"Jaspa!" Indigo hissed.

"Look, I'm helping, OK?" Jaspa said. "We bother know you're not in the right state to do stuff like this." He added in a lower tone. Indigo sighed at his concern but smiled. Awww!

"Why ya 'awww'ing?" Kira asked. Non a ya business!

Bulby decided that since his trainer was helping he should too. He used his vines to distract the trio in the eyes of the Sunflora.

"Oi, move the vines, we don't need a windscreen wiper!" Gareth said.

Meanwhile Jaspa helped Indigo climb onto the last Petal before the cage, the two nodded and then jumped, grabbing onto the cage. Indigo's hand slipped, and she started to fall when Jaspa grabbed her hand, smiling down at her.

* * *

"Did I just see Jaspa smile?" Scarlet said, rubbing her eyes.

"I believe we did." Lance said with wide eyes. Nevee just giggled and continued cheerleading with the Pokémon.

* * *

"You alright?" Jaspa asked as he pulled her back up, latching onto the bars once she had a good grip. Indigo nodded. "Can I have that hair slide?" Indigo pulled it out and handed it to him.

"Why?" She asked. Jaspa grinned and picked the lock on the cage and then giving her back the slide. He swung into the cage and pulled the girl inside too. Mudkip leapt into his trainer's arms and Indigo hugged him. Jaspa picked up the Bellossom and Bulby, noticing their victory, stuck his tongue out at the trio before grabbing each of the humans around the cage around the waist with a vine each and brought them to the earth.

"Use water gun/vine whip!" Indigo and Jaspa called in unison. The attacks hit and the machine and...

"TEAM ROCKE'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Whoop, you did it!

"Yes, we did." Indigo grinned. Jaspa chuckled.

"Oh. My. God." The others said.

* * *

**Me: Whoop! Battles are still really annoying, but practice makes perfect! Oh, no new OC... Oops? R&R! **


	17. Ep 16: More battles? Damn

**Gemma Other: Hello and we-... **

**Me: Oi! What are you doing here? I told you to go away! *turns to readers* Sorry, she Gemma Other, as in Gemma Other Cullen from 'The Other Cullen'. She's been bugging me all month about updated her story... I will soon!**

**Charlotte: What about me?**

**Me: Oh crap... Sorry, but you've kinda been discontinued... (That is the first kid I ever made for Ash and May, from the Ketchum Kids...) **

**Charlotte: WHAT?**

**Gemma Matchmaker V: Me?**

**Me: I'm not sure... **

**Scarlet: Who's the frizz head? *points at Charlotte***

**Me: _Speak for yourself..._Um... An alternative universe's Ruby called Charlotte... **

**All: WHAT? **

**Me: OK... I need help here! Help me, Holly Short and Artemis Fowl are in bloody Ketchum kids and one has a gun and one is an evil genius... help!**

**Holly: I have a neutrino, Torchix, and I'm not afraid to use it!**

**Me: RUN THE EPISODE!**

**Episode 16- More battles? Damn. **

**"Will she be alive by the end of this?" **Dunno. **"Anyway, last chapter Indigo battled Nicole 'Bloomer' Bloom, and lost. Then TRm3 attacked and now Jaspa is being stared at by very shocked people."**

"Oh. My. God!" The others exclaimed.

"What?" Jaspa asked, going back to a sour look on his face. "Never seen a boy chuckle? Gods' sake..." He added before storming out. Indigo sighed at him and looked at the wide eyed group.

"Huh?" She shouted, they all mumbled and walked off. "See you later, Nicole; we'll be battling again soon."

"Bye." MRf. (Mystery Ref.) and Nicole said in unison.

Indigo walked out after the rest of them as they all headed back to the Poké Centre. Um, guys? It's only four; you don't want food yet do you?

"Yes I sure as hell do!" Scarlet said. That doesn't surprise me... seriously; my timeline for this story is really off. "You don't say." Shut up.

Nevee was running ahead of the group and decided it was a good idea to close her eyes as she did so. This caused her to bump into someone, making her trip back. The boy grabbed her wrist, pulling her to her feet.

"Sorry." He said. Nevee looked at him. He had brown eyes and long, floppy, light brunette hair and brown eyes wearing Khaki jeans with a plain black t-shirt. He smiled once and then walked off.

"Did you just bump into another innocent civilian, Nevee?" Kira asked. Nevee had a strange look on her face... thoughtful and blushing, not something she usually looked like.

"Hello, earth to Nevee do you read us?" Auberon said, tapping her on the head once. Nevee snapped out of it and grinned.

"Reading ya loud and clear! Whoop!" She said, blush on her cheeks but she obviously didn't seem to notice that.

"Come on, Commander Crazy, let's go. I'm starving!" Scarlet said.

"You would be." Lance teased. Scarlet pouted. Go find Mr. Chuckle now.

"Mr. Chuckle?" Indigo said with a raised eyebrow.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

A little while later they had all eaten and decided that before the battle that Indigo should go out to find another Pokémon to fight against Nicole with.

"What Pokémon would work well?" Indigo pondered.

"Bug, duh brain." Auberon said. Seriously, you know all this but you don't know one plus one? "Seven?" My point -.-

"Alright... bug type. Um, any chance I could borrow a fire type?" Indigo said. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Here." Scarlet said. "Use Asher." Indigo took the Poké ball from her friend and smiled.

"Thanks."

"I would offer Fire, but he'd be too strong." Kira said.

"You're confident, ain't cha?" Auberon said. Kira shrugged. Oh lord... "What?" Um, the other story characters are done with young me and are heading in my direction!

Gem dropped into the camera's view and started to run, closely followed by the elf, Charlotte, etc.

"RUN AWAYYYYY!" She screamed. Everyone sweatdropped again as she ran around with all the other story characters following her.

"O...K..." Scarlet said. "Um, let's find some Pokémon!"

* * *

**1 hour later...**

The Metapod that Indigo was trying to battle ran – or more like hopped – off.

"You really aren't as much a natural as Scarlet at this." Auberon snickered, receiving glares off both Indigo and Jaspa. "Gee, protective or what, man? What is with you?" Jaspa just huffed and walked past him, purposely bashing into Auberon's shoulder as he did so.

"Don't be so hard on him, he's naturally cold. Leave him be." Indigo said, walking toward another area of forest. "Come on, let's find another Pokémon." She said.

"Actually, we were thinking of heading back for a gym battle now." Kira said. "If you don't mind, that is?"

"Sure, go ahead." Indigo said. "I'll catch a Pokémon by the time you're done; if not then there is something wrong with me."

"We already knew that." Scarlet teased playfully, hugging her friend before running off with the others back to the gym. Indigo sighed.

"Time to climb some trees just like when I was younger." She said, smiling slightly. She put the Poké ball on her belt and walked to one of the nearest trees. Getting a good grip with one of her feet she pushed up, grabbing a low branch with her hand. Slowly she pulled herself up, wincing a couple of times before she managed to reach out for another branch with her free hand. Her arms weren't strong enough, though, and she found herself landed on her ass. "Ow." Sighing Indigo stood. "This is going to be one long day of proving I am not sane."

* * *

"This is a one on one battle between Auberon Baker and Nicole! Begin!" MRf. Called, holding up the two flags and then bringing them down.

"Gee, ya take this really seriously!" Gem shouted as she ran away from all the characters, still. Holly was still brandishing the Neutrino, so she was running as fast as humanly possible.

"Go Turtwig!" Auberon called, throwing his Poké ball.

"Time to bloom! Go Grovyle!" Nicole called. Both grass types appeared on the field. "Use Leaf Blade!"

"Use Razor Leaf!" Auberon said. Turtwig threw his head back and the leaves just flew out, spinning rapidly as they started to head toward Grovyle. Grovyle dodged them all and the slashed Turtwig with his glowing arm leaves, it didn't do much but Auberon somehow knew that she wasn't one for big hits. Auberon has an eye for strategy, he notices what his opposition does and finds it easy to notice the patterns in their style, and earlier Nicole hadn't use big hits. She just used an attack that was naturally extra powerful against Mudkip. Her style was dodging and then attacking with small hits.

Scarlet was also taking this into account, it was a strategy she could find useful in contest battles in the future. Kira, meanwhile, wasn't.

"Alright, use Drain and then Razor Leaf again!" Auberon called.

"Dodge, Grovyle!" Nicole countered. Grovyle couldn't dodge drain but the attack did so little damage it didn't _seem_ to matter, until he realised the other attack was still heading his way whilst he was being drained. Grovyle was thrown back a foot or two and Turtwig jumped to the part of the field furthest away from him. "Alright, go in for Fury Cutter!" Auberon's theory was proved, that attack had a small attack stat, growing each time it was used in succession, a small attack. Again.

"Counter with bite!" Auberon yelled.

"He can't even learn that, I should know, I have a Turtwig." Nicole said. Auberon smirked.

"You don't know who this Pokémon is descended from." He chuckled, winking at his Pokémon. Turtwig grinned and jumped forward, Grovyle tried to dodge but also due to the heritage of this certain Pokémon gave him speed as well as a 'move'. He bit down on Grovyle's and no matter how hard the latter shook his head Turtwig just wouldn't come off.

* * *

Indigo hid behind a tree, watching a Beautifly as it collected nectar. Asher stood silently behind her, ready to use ember on his trainer's friend's command.

"OK now, sneak out quietly. Hopefully it won't just fly off when we attack." Indigo said. Asher nodded and the two did a very strange sneaky walk out from behind the tree. Indigo stuck up her thumb up at Asher and he used Ember.

Beautifly reacted immediately, using gust as soon as the attack had hit her.

"Use ember again, Asher!" Indigo called. Asher fired off the fire attack at the bug type; Beautifly flew over it and used String Shot, which Asher evaded. "Again!"

This time the Pokémon was hit, Indigo grabbed a Poké ball and threw it at her; the Beautifly was absorbed into the device with a red light. The ball fell onto the floor and wobbled trice, then the button stopped flashing red and Indigo cheered.

She picked up the Poké ball and clipped it onto her belt, pressing the button as she did so. "Hiya Beautifly."

"Beautifly, Beau Ti Fly, flyyyy!" Beautifly said before shaking her head when she remembered humans couldn't understand her. Instead she sat on Indigo's head.

"So, you don't mind I caught you?" Indigo asked. Beautifly shook her head.

"(You beat me fair and square.)" She said, Indigo just smiled making Beautifly sigh.

"I guess we better head back, 'ey Asher?" Indigo said, picking Asher up. Asher nodded vigorously, eager to see his little crush again.

Suddenly a tree fell beside them, making Indigo yelp and jump around, coming face to face (kinda) with a familiar trio. TRm3 were in the usual balloon this time, floating just above the tree line, but a large cage protruded from the bottom of it which was what blew their cover and knocked down the tree.

"Gareth, you were supposed to be _above_ the tree line! Not right atop it!" Gwen yelled, waving her fist at her cousin.

"Look! Its da twerpette no. 2!" Meowth said, pointing at Indigo. "Ooo, and a Beautifly!"

"Oh yeah, and what use it _that_?" Gareth said.

"It'll make the boss's garden nicer." Gwen said. Meowth shook his head.

"Nah, she 'ates pretty fings, we cud just sell it." He said. Indigo sighed at them and started to walk off, but they noticed. "'EY!"

"No one walks away from us!" Gwen yelled. "Especially not before our Motto!" She pressed a big red button and a hand grabbed her, constricting her. Indigo winced, not only from the force of the hand but also the bruises it was on. Beautifly flew into the trees, keeping an eye on her new trainer whilst Asher was thrown into the cage.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble!  
Gwyneth: Make it double!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"Let me *wince* go!" Indigo yelled.

"Nope, you'll be a good bargaining prop considering how that ginger kid has been reacting to you." Gwen snickered.

For a second in the background as she blabbed on about something Gem ran past screaming with Holly on her heels followed closely by Charlotte and then all the other characters. "Now, let's find the twerps."

"No need!" A voice called. Indigo looked down and saw MRf. there, holding a Poké ball. "You're not getting away with this, we're fed up of you!"

"And you are?" Gareth said.

"None of your business, but I'm not letting you do this! Firestar, White, go!" She called. An Infernape appeared first, shortly followed by a Togekiss. "White, go get Asher." The Togekiss flew up and broke open the cage with Air Slash, Asher jumped onto his back and White flew down. "Now, Firestar use Flamethrower!"

The Infernape fired the fire off, burning a hole through the balloon. White used Air Slash again, this time breaking the arm Indigo was trapped in. Indigo was caught by MRf. and...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

"Thanks." Indigo said. MRf. smiled beneath her hat.

"No problem." She said. "Coming?"

Indigo nodded, Beautifly flew to her arm and she returned her, Asher hopped onto her head and they walked back.

"How did you know?" Indigo asked. MRf. shrugged.

"I have my ways." She said, returning her Pokémon.

* * *

They arrived back at the gym just as Auberon was finishing up his battle.

"Finish up with Razor Leaf again, Turtwig!" He called, countering the only big hit Nicole had attempted all match, a super powered Lead Blade. The leaves immediately stopped the weakened Pokémon in his tracks, knocking him out.

"And the winner is Auberon!" MRf. laughed as she walked in with Indigo. "She got herself into a TR attack, sorry about running off."

"No matter." Nicole grinned. She then turned to Auberon. "I _lost_? Aw man, so not fair. You did well, here's your badge!" She ran over and placed the Forest Badge in his hand.

"I won the Forest Badge!" He said, striking Ash's pose. "Yes! I get to steal something from him!" Somewhere far away Ash sneezed. Everyone sweatdropped.

* * *

**Me: *Is Running* Yup, they are back on my back! HELLLLLPPPPP! **


	18. Ep 17: Kira's Turn

**Me: *panting* Sorry, can't stay long, most have given up but Holly still has that damn neutrino pointed at me and Charlotte has got all her sisters and brothers on my back, and the genius who isn't normally this evil anymore! Ahhh! RUN FOR YA LIVES!**

**Holly: Come back here! **

**P.S: Sorry if this isn't as good as others, I've been multi-tasking between _three_ stories and Pokoh Info! A one-shot for Indigo, a Pokoh test story and this! This may be why this wasn't up yesterday...**

**P.S 2: OHMYGOD! I JUST SAW I SAID THAT TURTWIG CAN'T LEARN BITE, I CHECKED AGAIN AND HE CAN! AHHH! **

**Episode 17- Kira's turn**

**"And since one of the three Gemma's I know of is being chased, Gem is back. Damn. Anyway, last chapter Auberon won his battle and Indigo caught a Pokémon! Now Kira is up to fight, will she win?"**

"Of course I will!" Kira exclaimed, waving her fist at the air. Someone's confident. "You don't say." Don't look at me with that tone of voice!

"You make less sense than we do." Scarlet said. Where are you guys anyway? "Poké Centre."

Zoom out, yup, they're in their rooms. Why?

"We felt like having a rest before the next battle, what's wrong with that?" Indigo said. Shouldn't you be calling parents? "Oh yeah!"

"I haven't called mine in a few days... There isn't much to tell though... other than losing again and the fact you almost got killed by someone from a totally different fandom." Scarlet said. "Or the fact we are going on strike form giving Nevee her medication until your poll is closed. How do the votes stand?" Only one wants a sane Nevee.

"Yay! I get to be normal!" Nevee cheered, clapping. As normal as you are now, if you can call it normal. But we love you the way you are. "Yay!"

"And Jaspa loves Indigo the way she is." Scarlet snickered. Kira raised an eyebrow at her and Indigo gave her friend a glare. "What? He so obviously does."  
"Oh right, Mr. Icouldn'tcarelessaboutanything in love? Are you trying to be funny?" Kira said. Scarlet shrugged.

"It sure seems like it." Scarlet replied.

"Shut up will ya, Scarlet? He's just being nicer." Indigo said.

"To _you_ only." Scarlet pointed out. Indigo hissed at her. "Alright, I'll shut up now!"

"Good." It all went silent for a second and then...

"Indigo and Jaspa, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first c-..." Scarlet and Nevee sang.

"GAH!"

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

I think we better go to the boy's... what happens in there will not be a pretty sight.

"What're they doing?" Lance asked. Well, I don't _think_ Kira is involved- "That's a first." –but they are kind of being killed by Indigo.

"What did they do now?" Auberon said, looking up from his hand as blue sparks- wait, blue sparks? WRONG FANDOM! *cough* I mean, Auberon said, looking up from his Turtwig as they knelt on the floor. Teased her about a certain male. "Oh!"

Jaspa snarled slightly. Oh shut up, you did give them reason! *Look Jaspa, no matter how cute I think you two are you do have to admit you gave them a lot of reasons, especially with the sneaking off* _I know..._

"Well, check if they're alive." Lance said. Will do, though I am scared at what I may find.

* * *

Oh. My. God.

Scarlet and Nevee were both _stuck to the ceiling_. How the hell did that happen?

"You don't wanna know." A wide eyed Kirar- Kira replied. "Not that again!" Sorry!

"Oops." Indigo said as she looked up at her friends.

"HELP US DOWN!" Scarlet screamed. Wiggle, whatever is holding you up should weaken then. Both girls wiggled (hee-hee), Nevee slightly more enthusiastically than Scarlet because she's crazy. Eventually the two fell onto the floor... uh, Kira and Indigo? Why didn't you put a mattress or something?

"Didn't feel like it." Indigo shrugged. You can be one evil girl. "I know."

"Are we gonna head to the gym now?" Kira asked impatiently, some things never change. "What is that supposed to mean!" Nothing *whistles innocently*

"Let's just go." Scarlet sighed. Nevee then decided to jump onto her back, just as she was standing. ***CRASH***

"Oops?" Nevee said. Oh boy...

* * *

"Back again I see." MRf. chuckled as they group walked in.

"Sure are, and Kira has more Pokémon, so it can be three on three." Lance said.

"That's good." Nicole said. "I haven't had a three on three for a while, my Turtwig is out of practice." She added with a pout. You are almost as bad as the characters, and you're _thirty two_! "So-rry."

"Are we battling or not?" Kira said. Gee, stop being so impatient Kira! Alex was impatient, but you take it to a whole new level! "Shut up." Will do.

"Wow. You listened!" Auberon said. After my _incident_ with my other characters, I'm trying not to get on people's bad side. MRf. nodded, as if understanding, but everyone dismissed it.

"Come on, battle!" Nevee whined. You too? Alright, everyone to positions.

The unneeded- "OI!" –people walked to the bleachers and sat down, ready to watch Kirar- Kira.

"This is a three on three battle the Authoress will most likely screw up-..." Hey! "Begin!"

"Go Turtwig!" Called Nicole.

"Go Fire!" Ordered Kira. A Turtwig and A Chameleon popped from the Poké balls, appearing in front of their trainers. "Flamethrower!"

"Just Dodge, Turtwig!" Nicole countered. The Turtwig was either a descendant of Gardenia's or it was just damn fast! It sped out of the way of the super effective attack, landing behind Fire and using Razor Leaf.

The attack wasn't that effective, but the pure shock of the hit made Chameleon fall down, leaping back up and glaring at his opponent a moment later.

"Use Dragon Rage!" Kira called. Fire opened his mouth and fired off a purple beam, Turtwig dodged again but this time Fire moved his aim with the Pokémon, and after a few minutes Turtwig was getting tired, the dodging taking up all his energy. He was hit and knocked to the ground, still conscious.

Turtwig pulled himself back up, the attack did the same damage every time, so it wasn't all that powerful. He was able to get ready to attack again.

"Bite!" Nicole called.

"OI, you said he couldn't learn it!" Auberon called. My bad! I kinda said that because I didn't see it, Turtwig can't learn it before evolution though, so I was kinda right!

"Stop him with Flamethrower again, Fire!" Kirara called. "OI!" Oops...

Turtwig didn't stop, he knew – despite his trainer objecting – he needed to try and get another hit or the other Pokémon after him wouldn't stand a chance, so he ignored his trainer's orders to dodge and sped straight at the fire type, avoiding the attack as best he could –only getting scraped– and biting down hard on Fire's head.

Fire shook his head quickly, trying to make it fly off, to no avail.

"Use Scratch!" Kira ordered, Fire reached up with his claws and scratched at the grass type, but he just wasn't giving up. "Alright, last measure, Focus Punch!"

Fire's fist clenched and glowed white, he thrust it up at Turtwig, knocking the poor thing into the ceiling. The tiles cracked slightly before Turtwig fell back down to the floor, swirly eyed.

"Turtwig is unable to battle, the win goes to Chameleon!" MRf. called. Now, I don't know the flag system, so if you do imagine which flag she puts up. Nicole returned Turtwig and congratulated it before grabbing another Poké ball. "Go!"

"Time to bloom! Go Grovyle!" Nicole said. "Leaf Blade!"

"Use Flamethrower again!" Kira said. Is it me or is this battle getting repetitive? "It's not you, there isn't many things he can do before evolution." There's more than Flamethrower! "Whatev."

Grovyle managed to avoid the attack, slashing at Fire more than once, hitting twice.

"Good, now bullet seed!"

"Use Fire Fang!" Finally! "Shuddup." No.

The seeds missed Fire, and this gave him the chance to get up close and bite down hard with its flaming fangs, right on Grovyle's leaf.

"Yes! Use Leaf Blade!" Nicole cheered. Grovyle winced but concentrated and a second before Kira realised what was going on the Chameleon was thrown backwards, hit hard by the extremely close range attack. "Bullet Seed!"

"Slash and then Dragon Rage!" Kira said. The slash attack knocked each bullet seed from the air, leaving them to burn out on the ground before using Dragon Rage and hitting Grovyle directly.

* * *

"I can't believe that the grass types have held out so long each on Fire." Auberon said. "Even with the dancing around the moves, they still got dealt very hard hits, like that Dragon Rage."

"But Dragon rage has a set attack base, it doesn't get weaker or stronger, it always does the same damage." Scarlet reminded. Auberon shrugged.

"Still, the point stands." He said.

"He does have a point, Scarlet." Lance said. "They have stood up to many attacks."

"But remember, this is a gym leader." Indigo said. "Stronger than the average, or rookie, trainer."

"OI!" Kira called. Everyone sweatdropped.

"I wanna to said or Bellossom! It's cute!" Nevee said.

"Nevee, why don't you just design some new outfits for your Pokémon?" Jaspa said. Nevee nodded and grabbed her sketch pad, drawing with her tongue out in concentration.

Indigo frowned when she realised Jaspa was back to his usual self, he was sitting beside her so – without anyone noticing – she patted his hand, making a small smile appear on his lips. KAWAII!

"What?" Scarlet asked. Uh... *shifty eyes* Something I'm watching on TV? "Right..."

* * *

By some miracle Grovyle was still conscious, firing off a never-ending stream of Bullet Seed, most times Fire dodged, but many hit or just scraped him.

"Enough! Use Flamethrower again!" Kira said, getting impatient as usual. "OI!"

The fire attack burned through the Bullet Seed, but Grovyle just managed to dodge and use leaf blade, which was the last thing Fire could take.

"Chameleon is out for the count! This round goes to Grovyle!" MRf. called. Kira returned Fire, thanking him before drawing another Poké ball.

No more battles, please don't make me write more battles! I'll have enough of that next chapter! OOO! I just thought *presses fast forward button*

In short and with no spaces: Kira'. Whoop!

"Bellossom can't battle, the victory goes to Lucario!" MRf. called. Whoop! NEXT! "Gee, you are really impatient." I know, I just want to get these battles done with. Indigo, get your ass down here and battle, Nicole use this max revive on the Pokémon of your choice. I am on a roll and am not going to give myself a battle for next chapter.

A Max revive dropped onto Bloomer's head, she picked it up and fed it to Grovyle – not again! – and then Indigo and Kira swapped places, high fiving as they passed each other.

"Alright, another battle. This time Nicole is facing Indigo! Begin!"

"Go, Beautifly!" Indigo called, throwing her Poké ball. Everyone gasped as Beautifly popped out, no one knew what she had caught other than myself and MRf. Beautifly burst out, spinning and then glaring at her opponent. "Alright, use Mega Drain!"

"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!" Nicole countered. The grass type fought against the super effective attack, running and using Leaf Blade on the Bug type.

"Let's just make this quick, keep using Mega drain but also use... something else!" Oh real creative. "I haven't had chance to train her properly yet."

Whilst still using Mega drain Beautifly, to everyone's shock, started to use Silver Wind too! You guys really are luck with your catches.

Poor Grovyle didn't stand a chance. **(Sorry guys... my battle brain isn't working...)**

"Grovyle is out for the count! That was quick..."

"Tell me about it." Everyone said.

* * *

**Me: I am so sorry about the crapness of th-aaaaatttttt! AHHHH! HOLLY MOVE THAT GUN AWAY FROM ME! NEUTRINOS ARE LETHAL! **

**Holly: That's the point!**

**Artemis: Holly, stop. *pushes gun hand down***

**Holly: Damn you, sometimes I wish you were still evil.**

**Me: Thank you Artemis! Now I can breathe again. As I was saying, sorry for the crapness, but battles hate me as much as life does. So... anyway! The One-shot should be up soon!**


	19. Ep 18: Missing

**Me: Seriously, whoever gave me that completely horrible review for Black and Indigo better watch out! I am tempted to report them! Well, I think I'm bringing back three OC in this chapter, I think. And we start getting one of the big plot lines on flow! Whoop!**

**Episode 18- Missing**

**"Well, there _was_ going to be a battle this chapter but Authoress moved it back to last chapter, so currently I haven't a clue what will happen!"**

"Tell me about it!" Scarlet said, looking up from her script. Hey, you're supposed to have put that away! "No, I haven't learnt it all yet." Sheesh!

"You did only give us the new one this morning, big mouth." Auberon said as he flicked through his script. IMPROVISE! One of the plots isn't in there anyway, because even I don't know when it'll happen.

"And?" Indigo said. "I have an excuse, you had me reliving..." I know, I know.

"What?" Scarlet asked. Nothing important, Scarlet. "I'll believe you, for now." Hey, Jaspa's finished!

"He speed-reads and has some sorta photographic memory." Auberon shrugged. Where's Nevee? "Where else? Eating the script as usual." Ah.

"This episode is random..." Scarlet murmured. Hey! Anyway, hurry up guys because you need to be outside soon!

"Alright, alright." Indigo said, flipping the pages quickly. You're not Jaspa, you can't read that quickly. "So?" You guys are hopeless. "I am really considering joining Destiny in not having kids so they don't get subjected to your crap." I can make you do what I want you to do.

"That is exactly why we don't want to have the kids." Auberon pointed out. Damn you. Are you lot almost done?

"Almost." Scarlet said.

"Same." Indigo said.

"Done!" Nevee said with the paper in her mouth... that is how she learns it, no joke. Then again, she rarely says anything on script, she just yells random stuff. Auberon?

"I'm close to finishing." He said. Good, I'll play the theme and you better be done by then.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Done?

"Whaddya think?" Scarlet said with hands on hips, "We're outside." Oh yeah! *nervous laugh*

"Hey, who's moving into the old Galactic Building?" Auberon asked, pointing to a van pulling up outside the old, creepy and rundown building TG used to inhabit. People in dark clothes climbed out, bringing in crates with 'fragile' and 'this way up' things on them.

"Must be some big company. I have to admit, I thought that building would be used sooner." Jaspa said. "It may have bad history but it would be the perfect place to run a business from." And you would know how? Actually, you're an all round nerd **(NO OFFENSE TO NERDS! I'm a nerd too! XD)** so you would.

"Hey!" Someone called. "Scarlet and co!" They all turned around and saw a familiar trio heading in their direction.

"Hey Nathen!" Auberon called. "Hey Crystal, Kate!" The trio ran up to them.

"Long time no see." Kathryn greeted, "We haven't seen you since episode eight!" Yeah, yeah, I know guys. I didn't have any plots for you though.

"It has been a while, ten episodes right?" Scarlet said. Nathen nodded.

"Yes, ten whole episodes of freedom." He chuckled. Hey! "Sorry."

"Do you know who's moving into that building?" Crystal asked. "They don't look... civil."

"Probably just a company." Jaspa said. Do you guys really think that? God, I thought even you were smarter than that!

"What is that supposed to mean?" Indigo said. Nothing, nothing. Anyway, what are you lot going to do now?

"You're supposed to know that." Crystal pointed out. I know, I'm just trying to check they know their lines. "Oh!"

"You didn't specify what we had to do." Scarlet said. "This is one bit you said you hadn't a clue what we had to do in." Oh yeah, oops... Well, go train!

"For once a good suggestion." Auberon said.

"YAY! Battle time!" Nevee cheered. Noooooooo!

* * *

"Who's going to battle?" Auberon asked. No one! "Shut up!" Will do.

"How about Crystal? You haven't seen her battle yet, right?" Nathen suggested. Sure. Against who?

"Oo! Me, Me!" Nevee said. Well, okay, it'll be... interesting to say the least. "Yay!" Go on, get in positions, Jaspa you be the referee. You're the only one with the knowhow. Jaspa sighed and stood between the two girls who both had a hand on their Poké balls. Nevee actually looks... serious. That's a first.

"This is a one on one battle between Crystal Pierce and Nevee Strong, begin." Jaspa said.

"Eve, go!" Nevee called, throwing her Poké ball. Her little Nevee popped out, looking around before settling on the opponent as she threw her own Poké ball.

"Go Piplup!" Crystal called. Piplup appeared and both small Pokémon looked at each other. Nevee is like, serious, serious, and I mean Jaspa serious. Is it possible that they are slowly having a personality swap? Nah, too obvious. "Alright, use Bubble!"

"Use shadow ball!" Nevee said. Bubbles flew at the oncoming purple disc thing and, to my and everyone else's shock, destroyed it! Whoa, I need to give coordinators more credit! Then again, Nevee rarely trains.

"Hey!" Scarlet and Crystal objected. Sorry! Wait... where did Lance and Kirara go? They were here last chapter!

"They disappeared." Auberon said. Oh... Why? "Guess." Me? "Got it in one."

"Alright Eve, use Swift! That never misses!" Nevee ordered. Eve nodded and fired off the gold stars at Piplup, who did its best to dodge them for as long as possible.

"Try and use Peck!" Crystal said. Piplup's beak glowed white and it leapt at Eve, stars following. Nevee realised what was happening.

"Eve! Get out of the way!" She called in a hurried tone. Too late. Piplup not only got Eve with peck but the stars followed after and hit both Pokémon. "Dammit, use Shadow ball again!"

This time Piplup didn't have time to avoid or destroy, so was knocked back across the makeshift battle field.

"Piplup, use Peck again!"

* * *

**_At the eldest Ketchum's Residence the day before..._**

"Goodbye Ruby!" Ash and May waved as their eldest daughter headed back toward her own home.

"It's good to know Scarlet's having a fun time on her journey." May said as they walked back into the living room. "And to have such a quiet house."

"I agree," Ash laughed. "Five kids... what were we thinking?" He joked. May prodded his side. "Too bad about Team Rocket still following them again."

"Traditions hey?" May said. I didn't make that one, guys! That was your owners! "I know, Authoress."

"At least you didn't make Pokémon like Torchix one." Ash said. I know, if I had done that everyone would have hated me even more. "They don't _all_ hate you, surely?" You want to bet?

"She does have a point, but don't worry, Ruby grew out of it." May said. Thanks, let's hope that's the case with Scarlet and stuff.

The two sat watching TV, luckily not all the oldie programs, for a long while. It was quiet, nothing unusual, but they failed to notice the noises outside.

* * *

"This is actually pretty close considering its Nevee battling." Scarlet said as she watched the training battle continue. "Nevee would make a good coordinator."

"It does seem she would, all her moves are pretty contest like." Auberon said. You'll never get her to become one, she's all designer and artist.

"We know that." Indigo said. Moody. "Am not." Are too. "Am not." Are too.

"Shut up." Nathen said. Will do.

"You sure listen to him easily." Kate said. Kind and quiet or not, he kind of scares me. "You must get scared easily, Nathen is really friendly."

"Yeah, Authoress." Auberon snickered. Shut up, you.

* * *

"Use Bubble again!"

"Swift!"

This battle really was close, hit after hit and miss after miss both girl's were neck-a-neck. No one was a clear winner so far. The two most recent attacks collided and broke each other up, bursting into sparkles, I see what they mean about her being a good coordinator.

"We're going to have to call a draw soon." Jaspa said. "This isn't going to have a winner." Just wait and see.

"One last time!" Both called. The attacks collided again and the next moment when the dust from the hit disappeared the two Pokémon were both out for the count.

"Finally!" Auberon said. "You guys have been battling for a half hour!"

"Really?" Crystal said as she returned her Pokémon. Nevee had returned Eve and was back to her usual crazy mood.

"I wanna eat cookies!" Nevee said. We need to make her battle more often.

"I agree with you there." Scarlet said. Whoop! "O...K..." Just go back to the Poké centre and eat.

"COOKIES!"

* * *

**_The day before again..._**

"Ash?" May said.

"What?" Ash asked. May hugged up closer to his side. Yeah, what Mrs. Grey hair? "Hey!" Sorry... it's true...

"I'm sure I can hear something by the back door." May replied, ignoring my comment.

"It's probably just one of the Pokémon." Ash assured. "Don't worry."

"Oh, I would worry if I were you." Someone said. Ash jumped up in an instant, looking around for any sign of a person. "You can't see me, idiot." Ash closed his eyes, looking around with Aura until he saw a bright figure. "Good boy, you just proved your worthiness."

"Who are you?" Ash asked, opening his eyes again. The person became visible.

"The name's Rin, and it took me a long time to get here. I suggest you make this part easy, Quincey!" Rin called. The other TUA grunt ran in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" May said as she stood beside her husband.

"Ah, another one." Rin said, closing her eyes. "No aura strong enough to be used though." She added when she opened them.

"Aura? This is about my Aura?" Ash exclaimed. "What the hell are you people?"

"We are members of Team Universal Aura, and we are here to recruit you." Quincey said in his unnaturally high voice.

"As if!" Ash said. "Why would I join you? I've beaten countless of teams like you."

"Because," Rin said as she formed a sort of rope made of aura, "your wife happens to be expendable," the rope grabbed May, covering her mouth and bounding her, "and I have the power to dispose of her whenever I want."

"You wouldn't dare!" Ash yelled, eyes glowing blue and his fists clenching.

"If you don't cooperate." Quincey said. Ash hissed but let the blue die down.

"Good oldie." Rin snickered. You are really patronizing, you know that? "Oh shut up!" No. "Yes." No. "Yes." No. "GAH!"

A second later the two Ketchum's blacked out.

* * *

**_Present day..._**

"Why do you have the news on?" Scarlet asked as she walked into the room they all had to share since there was only the huge room left. The boys had volunteered to use the floor if needs be. Jaspa shrugged.

"Just felt like it." He said.

_"Yesterday the house of the famous Ash and May Ketchum was found empty but with all belongings intact. There was no sign of forced entry but the back door was left open so someone could easily have walked in through that. The Police won't tell us anything else." Natasha said. _

Scarlet's face paled. "W-What?" Jaspa sat up and looked as stunned as her.

"I think we know who did this." Jaspa said. "Didn't you say about your family's aura? And remember what happened with Miles."  
"Oh god...**_Team Universal Aura have my grandparents._**"

* * *

**Me: How is _that_ for a cliff-hanger? Huh? Well, R&R!**


	20. Ep 19: All in the past, so you thought

****

Me: And now...I don't know how to continue... damn. Well, I guess I have to get them to Celestic! Here we go.

**Episode 19- All in the past, so you thought**

**"Last chapter... was mainly a battle I think. But, we find out that TUA have kidnapped Ash and May Ketchum. But instead of going straight to see Scarlet's reaction we see Nathen and Crystal alone somewhere."**

"Nathen calm down!" Crystal said, pulling at her brother's arm as he went to hit against the wall again.

"This is ridiculous! How can they be running this strong in not only Sinnoh and Pokoh but now _Kanto_?" Nathen yelled.

"Nathen, just stay calm! Look, if needs be we know you can fight. And Scarlet may be able to too, why else would her grandparents be taken by them?" Crystal said, pushing his arm back down to his side. "She's also only third generation, which means she is likely to have strong aura still."

"I know that." Nathen said, calming down slightly. "But... after what happened back in Pokoh... It makes it harder for me to tolerate what they do."

"Me too, Nathen." Crystal said. "Look, chances are Universal Aura hasn't researched any of the Ketchum family tree yet, so she's safe for now."

"It won't be long though, Crystal." Nathen said. "Not long at all."

"Well, we better be ready then, hey?" Crystal said. Nathen nodded. Yeah, now do you see why he scared me slightly? "Hey, what are you doing here?" I know everything about you, don't fret.

"How much did the person who 'volunteered' us tell you?" Nathen asked. Everything, and I mean everything.

**Theme: _Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Scarlet sat on the side of the bed in shock, face in her hands and heart beating the speed of a race car. Indigo sat by her friend's side with her arm over her shoulder. Jaspa had left the room, complaining the atmosphere had him tenser than usual, Auberon was watching Scarlet from across the room – concern evident in his eyes – whilst the mood in the room even had hyper Nevee calm and silent sitting on one of the top bunks of the room. Kate was waiting for Crystal and Nathen to return silently, sitting twiddling her thumbs.

"You gonna be OK?" Indigo asked. Speak for yourself... "Shut up, big mouth." Will do.

"In a bit, yeah." Scarlet said. "It's just... a shock is all."

"C'mon, this is Ash Ketchum we're talking about. He'll break out within a week, you watch." Auberon said, trying to ease the atmosphere but still sounding slightly unsure himself.

"But remember... Grandma May is with them, she doesn't have aura. If aura users are what they want and they have her all she can be is a hostage to keep Grandpa Ash there." Scarlet said. "We need help."

"How about we just leave it, 'ey? It might not be Universal Aura, they may have just run off to have a private week. They did that before, right?" Indigo said. Scarlet nodded, but no one was sure of the suggestion.

* * *

"You do realise I'm next on the hit list?" Ruby said as Peter paced around the room behind her.

"Don't think like that." He snapped. Ruby looked down. "Ru', they're not going to get you."

"They will. They'll use you against me like they must have done mom against dad, they will come and I will be forced to join them." Ruby said.

"No!"

"Yes, Peter! No matter how much I hate to admit it I am at a loss now, there is no way I can save anyone. _Anyone._ No even our daughter." Ruby said. "Not Scarlet, not Roi or Rori, not you, not my siblings. We're _all_ targets."

Peter took a seat by his wife, wrapping an arm over her shoulder. The twins were playing upstairs, but they knew they were safe because they were playing... loudly. Guys...

"Shut up." Peter hissed. Gee, I was just going to say... well, Scarlet is fine, they're all safe. I'm going to do a check up on Ruby's siblings now. "Go then." I will...

* * *

Hi ya Jasper!

The boy jumped, spinning around as if to find someone. Don't worry, Jasper, it's just me. I forgot you hadn't heard me as much as the others.

"Well, warn me next time." Jasper said. He is so still my favourite Triplet. Jasper's curly black hair is still in bouncy curls atop his head and he's in a black t-shirt with a reddish brown jacket and dark jeans on, and who's beside you? "That is Flame, my Monferno." Hi ya Flame! Now, to business. I'm sure you heard about your parents? Jasper looked solemn. I'll take that as a yes.

Well, you may be a target... what region are you in now? "I'm in Pokoh." POKOH! "Um, yeah." Get out of that region, _now_ Jasper! "What, why?" That region is where the people who got Ash and May mainly operate!

"Hehe... not so fast." CRAP! Jasper, leg it!

Jasper turned around and someone in black and purple grabbed him. Jasper! Crap...

* * *

Uh, guys?

"What now?" Indigo asked. "We just calmed Scarlet down." Ah, about that. You might just need to call one of the Cullens...

"Why?" Nathen asked. "And, Cullens?" Long story, no time. Um, Jasper kinda just got caught...

"WHAT?" Scarlet yelled. "What? Uncle Jazz?" Yeah... he was in Pokoh... they got him.

"Damn." Nathen cursed under his breath. "Crystal, we need to talk again."

"I know, Nathen." Crystal replied as the two siblings walked from the room again. Kathryn frowned.

"I feel like they're keeping something from me." She said.

"I'm getting the feeling big mouth is keeping something from us too." Auberon said.

"I'm gonna go check on Jaspa." Indigo said, walking out of the room. No one made a comment this time. The mood was too... dark. Indigo walked through the halls until she found Jaspa sitting on one of sofas in the lobby. She sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, making him blush.

"You K?" She asked.

"The atmosphere was just getting to me, I'm OK." Jaspa said. Indigo nodded, Jaspa wrapped his arm over her shoulder as a friendly gesture. Indigo moved closer. "Any news?"

"Jasper's been caught." **(I should have thought Jaspa's name through. I knew there was already a Jasper, why Jaspa?)**

"Damn." Jaspa said.

"I know. Blame big mouth." OK, normally I don't interrupt your little cute moments but seriously, it was not my fault! "Would they have known he was a Ketchum otherwise?" Yes, the scars Indigo! The Ketchum's are the only ones with exactly the same scars. "Whatever... a lot of bad things are getting uncovered recently, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are." Jaspa said. "Some worse than others." He looked purposefully at Indigo.

"Jas... please, I don't wanna talk about it." Indigo said, looking down.

"I know." Jaspa said. "Do you feel better that someone knows?"

"Kinda... I guess." Indigo said. Jaspa nudged her. "OK, yeah." She giggled, hugging him. Jaspa hugged her back. OK, sorry guys but just D'awwww!

Suddenly the moment was crashed when a familiar looking eighteen year old burst through the Poké Centre doors. JASPER?

"Got... away... need... rest..." He panted out. How the hell did you escape? "My... Talmind..." Oh, right. He passed out after that. The two ten year olds ran over.

* * *

"You OK now Uncle Jazz?" Scarlet asked. Jasper nodded, still slightly out of breath. "I'm glad you're OK."

"I'm glad you're OK too, Scarlet." Jasper said. "But I guess they haven't researched the family tree that far yet." They actually haven't at all... I think me warning you gave you away. "Damn." Sorry Jazz. "No worries, Authoress."

"This is bad..." Auberon said. "A lot worse than we thought."

"Now you realise that." Indigo said. Auberon stuck his tongue out at her. Auberon!

"Aw man, you're as bad as mom." Auberon groaned. I have twins, you are easier to control than them. Destiny is enough trouble for both of them.

"Right..." Indigo said. Then Crystal and Nathen re-entered the room.

"Why d'you keep leaving?" Nevee asked, her normal hyper tone somewhat evident.

"We need to talk about... things." Nathen said. Crystal nodded.

"Like what?" Scarlet asked.

"It's all in the past, Scarlet, no need to explain." Crystal said. Scarlet just shrugged and nodded whilst Kate frowned. Crystal gave Nathen a look and gestured to Scarlet and Jasper.

"Uh, Ketchums?" Nathen said.

"Yeah?" Jasper asked.

"Can we talk to you both, alone?" Crystal asked, standing again. Kate sighed, knowing she wouldn't be coming. "Kate? You too?" Kate, wide eyed slightly, nodded and stood up.

The Ketchums followed the three outside the Poké centre building, ending up in a forest.

"What are we doing out here?" Jasper asked. Crystal nodded at Nathen.

"Well... how good is your aura control?" Nathen asked.

"And why do you need to know?" Jasper asked. Nathen held out a hand, palm up, and a blue sphere appeared a second later.

"Aura?" Scarlet exclaimed. "You can use aura, Nathen?" Gee, ya think? "Shut up." Nah.

"Yes, Crystal has it but hasn't be able to use it yet." Nathen said, making the ball dissolve. "Back to the point, have you learnt how to control it?"

"I haven't, mom said I need to wait until I'm at least fourteen." Scarlet said. "I've only ever seen her and grandpa use it."

"I can." Jasper said. "Spheres, shield, etcetera, etcetera."

"Well, I guess that's good. But Scarlet, we're going to have to break your mom's rule, because if you're going to defend yourself Pokémon will _not_ be enough."

"I'm OK with that." Scarlet said. In the circumstances I don't think Ruby will mind anyway. "True."

"First, how about we get a little feel for how good Jasper is." Crystal said.

"Nathen vs. Jasper?" Kathryn asked.

"Yep." Nathen said. "Girls, sit and watch, and Scarlet? Please don't try anything without us at least attempting to teach you first."

"Will do Nathen." Scarlet said, running to sit by Crystal and Kate. The two boys got into stances.

"Just because you're younger than me, don't expect me to go easy on you." Jasper said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't want you to." Nathen said with his own laugh. On your marks... wait, that's a race... uh... uh... Oh just go!

Jasper had fired an aura sphere the second 'g' exited my um... fingers? Anyway... Nathen dodged the attack easily and launched his own aura sphere. Jasper decided to show off and did a flip to dodge it.

"Good one." Nathen said as he charged up two aura spheres.

"Thank you, you too." Jasper replied. Nathen threw the two spheres and Jasper pushed one hand out and swept it across the air in front of him, leaving a blue aura wall in front of him. The two spheres crashed into it and seemed to be absorbed by the shield before it too dissolved.

Jasper now formed a larger sphere than before and threw it powerfully at Nathen. The latter suddenly had a sword in his hands, slashing it down through the sphere just as it was in range. He then threw his own attack that Jasper jumped over. Jasper then formed a strange rope out of aura and flung it, it wrapped around Nathen's arms, tying them together.

"Whoa, Jasper dude I think you've won!" Nathen laughed. Jasper nodded and the rope dissolved into nothingness. "Very good, I didn't expect that but then again you are two years older than me."

"Yeah, I am. Good fight though, Nathen." Jasper said.

"Wow!" Scarlet said. "I didn't know you could do that Uncle Jazz!" She ran over and grabbed her uncle in a hug. "Wowowowow!"

"I never got a chance to show you, did I?"

"Can Aunt Jade and Aunt Em do that?" Scarlet asked.

"Haven't a clue, I think Em can." Jazz said. Hehe, love that nickname. Anyway... "Not sure about Jade." Hehe... I think she can. I did kinda make her seem way too average, I just found her boring... no offence. "None taken." I mean to her -_-.

"Can you teach me how to do that stuff, Nathen? Uncle Jazz?" Scarlet asked.

"We could." Nathen said. "It may take a while." How long? "A chapter and a bit maybe?" I can spare that, I can add the rest of the plot in-between it.

"It's settled then, we start teaching Scarlet!" Jazz said.

"And maybe... we can save my family." Scarlet said. Jazz patted her on the back.

* * *

**Me: So sorry for the wait, readers! I got a bit stuck *nervous laugh* WRB sucks. Anyway, hope you like it! I love writing aura fights, hehe. **


	21. Ep 20: Learning to Protect

**Me: *chuckle* Yes, aura is **_**technically**_** nothing. Anyway! This next chapter and a bit will mainly be Scarlet's training and stuff, OK? So don't expect any more old/new OC to appear during them. **

**Episode 20- Learning to protect**

"**Last episode we saw how the Ketchums are now becoming quite a target for TUA. Nathen and Jasper are now teaching Scarlet all they can about how to defend herself and everyone else."**

"Gee, announce it to everyone why don't you!" Nathen said.

"**They didn't hear the last bit, don't worry."**

"Good." Crystal said. I wouldn't let him reveal anyone's secrets, don't worry. He knows what would happen if he did.

"You are getting scarier by the day." Scarlet said. Deal with it; I'm in a bad mood because I just can't think of a plot for your first movie! "You are _not_ making us go to a war zone are you?" Nah, I'm making it more Pokémon related this time. I think... Anyway, training time! I'm going to go back to check on the others at the Poké Centre.

"See ya!" Jasper said.

* * *

"Where have they gone?" Indigo asked. To talk, they chucked me out. "Good on them." OI!

"Well, what are we supposed to do until then?" Auberon asked. Oh god... I think I know what's coming...

"TRUTH OR-..." Nevee started. YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND I HAVE TO KILL YOU ALL! "Aw man."

"Oh c'mon Authoress." Indigo said. No, no, no, no, no, NO! "Alright, I get it!"

"Why not?" Auberon asked. You know damn well why! You're parents were pure _evil_ when they played it. I am not taking that chance again! "Dammit."

"I agree with her there, I remember mom telling me about their games *shudder*" Jaspa said. You listened to that? "That is one reason I can't tolerate you." Don't remind me! Yuck!

"What?" Nevee asked curiously. You don't wanna know. "Pwease can we play? Pretty Pwease?" Nevee, don't do that. "Pwease?" Hmm... Actually, yes, on one condition!

"What?" Auberon asked. *whisper whisper*

"What is she saying?" Indigo asked, raising an eyebrow. I thought we were rid of the curse of the eyebrow! God...

"Gladly." Auberon smirked. Yes! Ok, do it then. "Indigo and Jasper, I dare you to..."

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

Lemme guess, Indigo inherited her grandma's mallet?

"Yep." Auberon said with a comical lump on his head. Did they? "Nope." Dammit! I thought for sure that would work. "Same."

"You're next, Authoress." Indigo said. I'll just make sure I don't go down there for a while then. "Damn you." Nananana!

"Immature." Jaspa said. I know. Well, I'm gonna go check on the other Ketchums! And no, I will not give them away.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Auberon said.

"I like bananas on my waffles." Nevee said. Sure you do...

* * *

"Ow!" Scarlet said as the aura sphere snapped back to her hand like an elastic band.

"Don't worry about it Scarlet, that happens to even experienced users." Nathen chuckled.

"I suck at this." Scarlet sighed.

"No you don't." Jasper said. "You're a beginner, even Dad didn't get it right first time and he has one of the strongest auras out there."

"I guess..." she said, sitting down.

"Don't worry about it, Scarlet. You'll get it." Crystal said. Ash popped out and jumped onto his trainer's head.

"Hey there little man." Scarlet said, patting his head.

"Char, mander Charmander." Asher said.

"I haven't a clue what you just said." Scarlet giggled. Asher grinned and jumped down, pressing another Poké ball's button as he went. It opened and Buneary appeared. "Oh!" The two Pokémon sat down and started to chat.

"Ready to give it another go?" Kathryn said.

"Sure am!" Scarlet said.

"Go on then." Nathen said. Scarlet nodded and concentrated again, hand out flat. A small blue light flickered, soon growing slightly, and more, and more, and then... it snapped back to her hand again and she jumped around holding her hand. Everyone around her sweatdropped.

"Scarlet." Jasper said, she continued to jump. "Scarlet!" She continued again. "SCARLET MELODY KETCHUM!"

"Wut?" Scarlet asked, stopping and looking at her uncle.

"Get over here." Jasper sighed. Scarlet ran over. "Was that really necessary?"

"Nope." Scarlet said.

"Then why?" Nathen asked. Scarlet shrugged. This is supposed to be funny too, guys. Horrible happenings or not. "I should've known." Yeah, by now you should've. I'm off to check on the Ketchum kids! And no! I don't mean you Charlotte! Go bother Torchix!

* * *

Hi Jade!

"Hi Authoress." Jade said. How have you been? "Fine thanks." Jade's curly hair is nowhere to be seen under her green woollen beanie, only two ringlets showing. She's in a green turtleneck and a pink scarf and jeans. "Was that necessary?" Yeah. "Why you here?" Ok, this time I am being cautious and saying it into your brain. _Look, you know about your parents and Jasper was almost caught too. Be wary of anyone in black and Purple._ "Why?" _They are after you, Emerald, Ruby, Jasper and Scarlet. _"Oh damn." My point. Be careful and keep winning contests!

* * *

Emerald! ... you look like a boy!

"I know." Emerald said. I'm not joking either; if she didn't have... ya know, she would look like a boy! She has her hair super short, green goggles, green jacket and very baggy brown top and jeans. "Why are ya here?" Oh, the usual. Warning you about a potentially deadly plot against your life. "Again?" Readers, you may be confused, but once I did have to warn her about a plot against her. Why? She riled up a whole town. _Just watch out for people in black and purple, K?_ "Sure thing." Cya evil Em! "See ya evil Gem." Ha-ha *rolls eyes*

* * *

"Hello Authoress, why are you here?" Sapphire asked. Aw, look at little Charmane! She's a cutie. "Thanks, why are you here?" Oh! One sec, lemme tell the readers what Charmane looks like and then I'll explain. Charmane is two hears old has blue hair inherited from her dad, Fidelis, and blue eyes. Now! Down to business. You know about ya mom and dad? "Yes." Well, you're a target as you may have guessed. If anyone in black and purple comes near you, leg it! "Will do." Good girl. "HEY! I'm not a kid anymore!"

* * *

"Why am I getting the feeling you were just being stupid?" Scarlet asked. I wasn't, that was Emerald, and Sapphire, and... you get the idea. "Oh." HA! "Shut up." Nope.

"Concentrate, Scarlet." Jasper said.

"OK." Scarlet said. The ball in her hand grew and grew until it was the size of an average aura sphere. "That good?"

"Yes, very good Scarlet." Jasper said.

"Thanks Uncle Jazz." Scarlet grinned.

"Now try throwing it." Nathen said. "At me if you want." Scarlet smirked and shook her head.

"Nah, I have a better idea." She turned to the camera and threw it. The Combee camera man was hit. The image now showed the floor before buzzing out.

_**Excuse the wait, we are experiencing some technically difficulties. We hope to have your program back on soon, meanwhile watch the dancing Asher!**_

_**A very annoyed Asher appears dancing in a tutu. ...**_

SCARLET!  
"Sorry..." Scarlet said. I just had to get another Combee camera man down there, and since you just almost killed the other one he was too scared at first! Sheesh...

"Well, she's pretty strong then." Nathen said, eyes still wide.

"You can say that again." Kate said.

"I said sorry." Scarlet said. I know, I know. Just keep training.

* * *

"Hmmm... I see I am not the only one after the Ketchums." A dark figure in a tree said as it watched the training going on in the clearing. "Bah, that aura won't be enough to stop me. Full of yourself much? "Shut up, imbecile! You won't hinder my plans."

"Alright, through that at the tree this time." Jasper said.

"Will do." Scarlet said, throwing the next Aura sphere into a tree and knocking it down.

"Whoa." The observers said.

"Idiots." The dark figure scoffed. Speak for yourself. "I will send my other world grunts after you!" You won't bother. "Don't bet on it."

"What time is it?" Crystal asked.

"Probably around five by now." Jasper replied. "Wanna go get some food?"

"Sure as hell I do!" Scarlet said, running off ahead.

"Immature." Said the figure.

* * *

"Took you lot a while to talk." Auberon said.

"There was a lot to talk about." Kate said.

"Anything interesting happen here?" Jasper asked. Indigo swallowed and then spoke.

"They' she poked her thumb at Auberon and Nevee 'Tried to get me to snog Jaspa." And failed, which sucks. "Oh shut up!" No.

"So that's how Auberon got the big lump." Crystal said, giggling slightly. Auberon pouted slightly. Scarlet grinned at him.

"We can always try again." Auberon shrugged. We sure can and will!

"Banana!" Nevee said. Yup, she actually has waffles with bananas on, and she hasn't peeled the bananas.

"You know, you have forgotten TR for quite a while now." Indigo pointed out. Meh, I didn't feel like it. "You forgot!" Oh alright, yes I forgot. You should be happy though, you probably only have this chapter left of freedom from them.

"Dammit." Jaspa said. WHOA! He actually cares about something. "Shut up, they are annoying immature imbeciles."

"True that." Crystal grinned. Yup.

* * *

"I RESENT THAT!" Gwen yelled. SHUT UP! "NO!"

"Are we attacking today?" Gareth asked her.

"No, boss said not to bother. Said 'she has it under control' or some other crap." Gwen shrugged.

"Stuff da boss! Let's nab some Pokémon!" Meowth said.

"If you want to be able to keep our job then we can't, OK fur brain?" Gwen said. Meowth mumbled something but did as he was told.

"Why not?" Gareth said. "I'm bored." Gwen sighed and pushed him, he skidded down the screen. OH MY GOD! He just _literally_ hit the fourth wall!

* * *

**Me: Shorter chapter, but hey, that was all my brain can muster today! Oh, and that bit at the end? Apparently it actually happened in an episode once. WHOOP! Anyway, R&R!**


	22. Ep 21: Practice

**Me: Life HATES me! I swear, yesterday was **_**hell**_**. First my flippin' first two periods were science, both! And then when I got out of school it started p****** it down and the roads and pavements flood. I had to run to dad's car getting my feet soaked and the rest of me covered in rain and then my best pair of glasses went down the drain quite literally so I'm in old ones and then mom and dad were trapped outside in the car because of how much rain there is pouring from the sky and there's thunder and now I'm COMING DOWN WITH A COLD TO TOP IT ALL OFF! GAH! And today? Oh don't get me started! Ugh!**

**Episode 21- Practice **

"**I am not allowed to mention last chapter, apparently, because Nathen and Crystal may just kill me."**

"Damn right." Crystal giggled. *rolls eyes* "Hey." Sorry.

"**Let me finish! Anyway, they are now on route 211 heading toward Celestic, just don't get lost again! That was annoying."**

"Look who's fighting back today!" Scarlet laughed. "Seems he's finally sticking up for himself." Seems so. Won't be for long though. The group could then hear someone cracking knuckles.

"You are one scary person, authoress." Auberon said. I know.

"Is there a contest in Celestic?" Indigo asked. And why do you want to know? "For Scarlet, duh." Well, yes I think there is. I haven't a clue which other coordinators will attend though.

"Me?" Crystal asked. If we get that far without me chucking you lot back onto your own path, yeah.

"Such a nice way to put it." Nathen said. I know. He turned to the others. "Does she always say 'I know'?"

"Yes." They all replied in unison.

"Well that is plain annoying." Kate said. Hey, get used to it *giggle*.

"We better hurry, Mt. Coronet is soon and I wanna get through it quickly 'cos I don't feel like camping in a creepy cave." Indigo said. I agree, caves give me the shivers. "Hurrying time!"

"Hell yeah!" Scarlet said.

"I want bananas!" Nevee said. What is it with her and bananas the past couple of episodes?

"She shoved one in her ear, she brainwashed herself by accident basically." Auberon said. O...K...

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

Ok, why is Mr Physical failure carrying his sister?

"She hurt her ankle on one of her banana peels." Scarlet said. O.o. Jaspa groaned, actually... you shouldn't be too incapable of lifting her, flash back guys.

"_Indigo!" Jaspa yelled, opening his mouth just before anyone else could shout. This shocked the others. Jaspa climbed onto the side of the stands and released his Pokémon, Heya Bulby! "Vine whip." Jaspa said. Bulby looked confused but did as his trainer instructed, shocked he was even let out. Jaspa used the extra height to leap onto the Petal below Indigo._

End the flashback, whoop!

"Why is it so hard then, Jas?" Indigo asked. "You did do that."

"Ooo!" Auberon laughed.

"What now?" Jaspa groaned.

"She is the only one who calls you that." Auberon pointed out.

"Nevee does!" Indigo protested. Auberon shook his head.

"No. She calls him _Jazz_ and she has yet to do that." Auberon said. That made no sense, Auberon. "Huh?" Don't tell me they didn't teach him sense either?

"We won't then." Scarlet said. *head-keyboard* hhggisafbugi.

"Was that necessary?" Crystal asked. Yes! Anyway, Mt. Coronet is coming up. So unless you wanna catch a... Bidoof, Chingling, Geodude, Hoothoot...

"We get it. And no, at the moment we don't want to." Nathen said. OK then, into the mountain!

"I don't like this." Scarlet said. "It's scary!" Tell me about it! "I just did." You know what I mean!

"Shut up guys." Indigo said. Alright, alright. So, anyone got a clue what the time is?

"Lunch time me thinks." Nevee said. Jaspa, check please. Jaspa nodded and looked at his watch. Well?

"Dead on half-twelve." He said. Wow! Nevee was right! Well, sit down and eat then!

It took them a few minutes to set up the cooking stuff and Jaspa got started on the food. Seriously, as far as I know he is the ONLY one who can cook. Sheesh, I thought the genes were better this generation. *sigh* Let's pray the next gen will be better!

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Auberon said. Nothing, dude. "AUTHORESS IS OUT TO GET ME AGAIN!" *sigh* and I thought we'd lost that paranoid side, guess not.

"We never will." Nathen shrugged. You didn't exactly help when you three first met this five. "I know, I know." Hey! That's my line, Nathen!

"A line that annoys us." Crystal pointed out. *hides in corner*

"Anyway, lunch is ready everyone." Jaspa said before shutting his gob tightly again. Everyone gathered round and grabbed a couple of rice balls (or in Scarlet's case about five) and started to eat.

"They're really nice, Jasper." Kate said. Jaspa just nodded a thank you and continued eating. Guys, leave Indigo with Jaspa later, it might warm him back up a bit. Everyone but the two laughed.

"Alright, lighten up the teasing now. At least _someone_ can get him to smile." Scarlet said. Indigo gave her friend a silent thanks and then continued eating. "Well, I'm done!" Scarlet added a minute later. "I'm going to explore, anyone coming?"

"I will." Jasper (who I seem to have completely forgotten this chapter, sorry Jazz) said before standing up. The Ketchum apatite, 'ey?

"I'll join you." Nathen added, shortly followed by his two female companions. Now readers, if you don't know why they are all going then where have you been the past two chapters?

"Ooo! I'm gonna go explore!" Nevee said, shoving all the rice balls she had into her mouth and running off.

"Someone go after her." Indigo said. Auberon groaned and stood up, running after her. You guys just _loooove_ getting lost in caves dontcha? "They do, I don't. I got lumbered with you last time."

"Me neither." Jaspa said. They're all gone then? Yup, all gone. "Are you taking the mik, Authoress?" What? You really don't talk unless they're all gone.

"She has a point, Jas." Indigo grinned. Jaspa chuckled and patted the space next to him. Indigo scooted over and rested her head on his shoulder. I'll give you two some privacy.

* * *

"Alright Scarlet, I think authoress has something planned for you now, Scarlet." Nathen said. Yes, I do. One of my reviewers and your submitter, Nathen and co., made a suggestion! I would do it, but I really don't know how to. Apparently we need to get Scarlet's aura more balanced so she sphere doesn't pop in her hand. Buuuut since I haven't a clue how, apparently my own suggestion of a practice battle would be a good way to get aura flowing! So, Scarlet, how about it?

"Sure! Who against?" Scarlet asked. Not me, you'd probably just aim for my head like you did that poor Combee... um, draw straws? I can't choose.

Nathen and Jasper decided on... rock paper scissors. Seriously? *head-desk* Ow! I don't have a desk, I just fell onto the floor! OW!

"Ha!" Scarlet said.

"Scarlet, don't annoy her too much. She _can_ cut you." Crystal reminded. Scarlet shrugged. In more ways than one, Scarlet! She shrugged again.

The boys played and eventually after about five hundred draws Jasper won! At last! So, get ready you two!

Both stood in stances, I think I know who's gonna win. Who wants to bet for Scarlet to win against my bet for Jasper to win? Ten Poké dollars on it.

"I will." Nathen said. Prepare to lose!

"Don't count on it, Authoress." Kathryn said. I am counting on it! WHOOP!

"You can be as crazy as Nevee." Crystal said. I know. "Not that again!" I know.

Ready, set, begin!

Jasper had fired his sphere before Scarlet's had even fully formed. Scarlet just about managed to dodge it, sending it into the rock behind them and smashing a hole and making pieces of it fly everywhere. Scarlet retaliated by throwing her own ball, but it was pretty slow despite yesterday's show of strength and against Jasper it was very ineffective because he dodged, again. This cave is gonna collapse if this keeps up.

Scarlet then formed two more spheres, Jasper throwing one of his at her and making one of her own pop. Grinning cheekily at her uncle she then threw her own, he dodged it easy but the next second she had leapt onto his back and had somehow, though it is _way_ above her level, had an aura rope around him.

"I think you owe me 10P$." Nathen said. Ten P$ dropped into his lap. "Thank you." *growls*

"How did she do that though, Nathen?" Crystal asked. "That was a bit advanced for her level."

"Yeah, it was." Jasper said. "But remember, my Dad had strong aura that got passed down to us all. As far as I know the only one's yet to use it are Charmane, Roi and Rori for obvious reasons. I think it comes naturally to us, I'm not sure."

"I get ya that does make sense. Now Scarlet, can you let him go now?" Nathen said. Scarlet grinned and retracted the rope, jumping from her uncle's back.

"What next?" She asked.

"Wonder what's taking Auberon so long." Indigo asked, her head still on Jaspa's should. (I heart them even more than before, seriously people XD)

"Nevee is pretty fast." He said. "Have you guessed yet?"

"Guessed what?" Indigo asked. Jaspa sighed.

"You know, what happened with me in the Chateau." Indigo's mouth made an 'o' and she shook her head. "Please try."

"Superman?" Indigo said. Jaspa chuckled.

"No, not a super hero." He said.

"Out of guesses then. I'll keep trying."

"You better." Jaspa said. Indigo nodded and moved closer. Jaspa put an arm around her. (Why can't they just admit it already? GAH!) Alright guys, spill.

"Spill what?" Indigo asked. STOP ACTING OBLIVIOUS! GAH! You know what I mean, that whole arrangement ya sitting in should give you a clue! They blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jaspa said, cheeks red. That is IT! I am gonna get help with this. Any reviewer who wants to help me by appearing in a couple of chapters to help me get them sorted then please say! I need a matchmaker team down here!

Now, I better leave them before I start acting like a swearing idiot.

* * *

"Nevee, slow the hell down!" Auberon called as he ran after the overly hyper girl. Nevee just giggled and ran off faster. "This is sooo annoying." Tell me about it, I had to chase her once too you know. How about you just get your fast Turtwig to go after her? "Good idea!" I do have them... occasionally.

It took another few minutes but eventually Auberon managed to drag, literally, Nevee back toward the lunch site. Good luck keeping hold of her! *runs off*

"Real nice!"

* * *

**Me: And that is where I end it because my brain is ready to fry. Next chapter will probably be the contest, I'm not really sure. But either way I won't chuck the trio and Jasper out until after the contest! Jasper will be competing, people! And really, anyone who wants to join my matchmaker group then say and give a brief physical and personality description, K? **


	23. Ep 22: Back to ?

**Me: My brain is gonna fried if I have to do one more assessment or test. *groan* Well, I have an idea that won't go away so I'm afraid we are kicking poor Jasper, Nathen, Crystal and Kate out to welcome a couple more OC one of my best reviewers Legendary Fairy submitted! I feel bad for not including them, and anyone else's I haven't used yet, yet. Each person who asked to be a matchmaker, or for their characters to be a matchmaker, will have one episode dedicated to the matchmaking attempt! But the characters like Silver Don's and LF's two will come back again. ANNND! One of Eternalhero01's will appear again because I need more characters! XD ANNNND! Sorry this wasn't up sooner, I'm working on the first movie now. **=D

**What is with my authoress notes the past two chapters? XD**

**Episode 22- Back to?**

"**We join our heroes about a mile they reach Celestic Town, and where Authoress is kicking four of them back onto their own path. Poor them. Anyway... apparently Authoress has a surprise for our heroes, one I'm not sure they'll be happy about..."**

"See ya some other time Uncle Jazz." Scarlet said as she hugged her uncle goodbye. Nathen, Kate and Crystal had left to run ahead earlier, they were heading straight through Celestic to get to Veilstone. Don't ask me why they head there first! I'm not saying.

"Sure will, Scarlet." Jazz said, patting her back. "See you guys, and Scarlet? Remember what Nathen said about that thing?"

"Yeah, I remember." Scarlet said. Jazz nodded and then released his Talmind, whose appearance I am not revealing because it would be too much of a spoiler for my Pokoh Pokémon, and then teleported himself to his sibling's home. Ruby's gonna get a shock!

"You can say that again." Auberon said. Ruby's gonna get a shock! "You can say that again." Ruby's gonna get a shock!

"SHUDDUP!" Indigo yelled. Sheesh, alright-alright. I didn't think you were Jaspa or Nevee!

"Shut up." Jaspa hissed.

"What about me?" Nevee asked innocently with a pout. You don't remember or know, don't worry. "OK." She grinned then. Ah, a free soul she is.

"So, what's this surprise?" Auberon asked. Walk ahead about a quarter of a mile and you'll see.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Indigo said. You should MWAHAHAHAHAHA! "O...K..."

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"You know, there is one thing I feel sorry for you about." Scarlet said. And what's that? "School."

"Oh yeah, I agree there. What year is your young self in?" Indigo asked. None of anyone's business! Sheesh! But I do have a hell of a lot of assessments and tests at the moment. It sucks.

"I do feel sorry for ya there, school really, _really_ sucks." Auberon said. Glad ya think so, look where you are.

The group of five all looked ahead and saw a wooden building with a big 'Poké School' over the top of the entrance.

"What-..." Auberon started.

"...- The -..." Scarlet said.

"...- Hell!" Indigo finished. Welcome to Poké School! It's not a proper school, but one a lot like the one Ash and the Sinnoh gang went to! Challenges, Lessons, Battles and more!

"I am going to kill you." Scarlet said.

"JAM!" Nevee yelled. Alright, who let her watch Nev?

**(A blue bear thing from British TV, I'm not sure if it's in any other country.)**

**

* * *

**

"Here they come!" Someone giggled; she had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue T-shirt, a pair of black running shorts, white socks and blue shoes. Her brother chuckled.

"I can see, Star. I'm not blind." He said. He had Messy black hair, emerald eyes and is wearing a red t-shirt with black pants and blue shoes. Star grinned and peered around the wall again. You guys... *chuckle* Anyway, hi Christian, Star! "Hi Authoress." How are Markus and Angel? I haven't seen them since the RJC movie.

"Mom and Dad are fine." Star said.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Christian asked. You know, anyone who gets associated with any of the Legacy Series bloodline tends to have problems. They met them in a warzone; it wouldn't surprise me if more happened since. "Nothing has, as far as we know." Good.

"Ooh! They're getting their uniforms, hee-hee." Star laughed. Christian peered around the wall and sure enough, much to the five's annoyance, they were in fact being handed uniforms. You guys got yours?

"Yep, we're putting them on later though. We have to see what groups we're in." This place is a lot like the one from the DP series.

"C'mon, let's go!" Star said, the twins ran out and after a moment Scarlet was first to notice them.

"Do they look familiar to you?" She asked.

"Well duh! It's only Star and Christian, idiot!" Auberon said. Scarlet thwacked him over the head. "OW!"

"I didn't think you'd recognise us." Christian said. "You haven't seen us in ages."

"Dude, you don't have to stick to the script ya know." Indigo said. Yes you do! "We didn't even know about this crap until we got to the entrance."

"It won't be so bad, Indigo. It has all sorts, not just lessons." Star said. I told them, they don't listen though.

"Whatever Big Mouth." Scarlet said.

"C'mon, let's just go in." Jaspa said. You shouldn't mind this much. "I don't." Didn't think so.

"What are they doing when we do get in?" Auberon asked.

"Putting us in teams." Star said.

"It really is like the other one." Indigo said. You don't say. "Shut up."

* * *

"C'mon!" Star said, dragging Scarlet and Indigo behind her as she ran toward the hall. Yup, you sure are rushy. Rushy as hell, people. "Shut up." Annnnd another one who hates me already. *groan* What is it with these people? Seriously, only anime characters don't hate me, anyone fan made does! GAH!

"Calm, Authoress." Auberon said. Ah shuddup! "Nah." GAH! You guys are determined to annoy me today, look, I'm already p'd off at a couple of Year 7s who just don't understand the words 'go the hell away!'. Don't rile me up more. "Gee, OK, OK."

"**Alright everybody!**" A teacher said, his voice a _bit_ too loud. "**We're going to split you all into teams now! Red, Blue, and finally Green!**" Gee dude! SHUDDUP! "**Whoever that was don't be so cheeky!**" *anime style fall*

A female teacher walked up beside him and handed him a piece of paper. "The Teams." She said before walking off again.

"**Here is the red team! Kite Strider...**" The teacher, who I will now refer to as Fred, said.

"Hey, Kite's here too!" Scarlet said to her friends. Ya don't say! *rolls eyes*

"Ah shuddup." Auberon said. Don't feel like it.

"**... blah... blah... blah... Scarlet Stone-Ketchum... blah... blah...**"

"Looks like she's in too." Indigo said. "At least you know someone."  
"If one of you guys don't get in his bad luck may rub off on me." Scarlet said. You already have your own bad luck. "That's _why_ I don't need his."

"**...blah... blah... blah... Nevee Strong... blah... blah...**"

"Lemme guess, not what you expected?" Star laughed. Scarlet face-palmed.

"Great! I'm on Neveesitting duty too now? THIS DAY CAN'T GET WORSE!" Scarlet yelled.

"**Quiet back there!**" I think it just did... "**Ah, Scarlet SK. You have cleanup duty for disrupting us!**" See what I mean?

"Say WUT?" Scarlet said. Auberon laughed earning a glare and hit over the head from the red eyed girl.

"**You too Mr. Baker!**" Auberon groaned, Scarlet sticking her tongue out at him.

"Too bad for you two." Christian said. Both glared at him. Don't get on their bad sides, you should know that. "I know." My line, no steal it!

"**And now for Blue Team!**" Fred said. This sounds so much like a flippin' PMD game! *groan* "**Blah... blah... Auberon Baker... blah... blah... Christian Black... blah... blah...**"

"Blue team? Aw man, blue sucks. No offence to blue lovers!" Auberon said when he saw Indigo's look of terror. "You're not as bad as your boyfriend with those glares."

"WHAT?" Indigo whisper yelled. A second later Auberon had a comically huge lump on his head. "There, don't bother taking the piss again." INDIGO SKETCHIT! "Sorry. _Not..._" I heard that. "Damn."

"**...blah... blah... Star Black... blah... blah...**" Fred finished. "**Now the Green team! Blah... blah... blah... Indigo Sketchit... blah... Jaspa Strong...**"

"You set that up, didn't you?" Jaspa said, glaring up. No! I seriously didn't, no joke! Seriously, swear on my life! *doesn't die* And seriously, this is fanfiction, if I swear on something and I lie, then what I swore on goes. Not kidding.

"Who did then?" Scarlet said. "It sure as hell weren't me! I was oblivious as the rest of us about this!" Scarlet said. Auberon nodded, saying the same.

"Ever thought it may just be coincidence?" Christian said. *you two?*_ Yep. _*nice one* _Thanks_.

"**Now! All go to your respective Dorm blocks where you will choose rooms!**" Fred boomed. Sellotape guys?

"Yes." They all said at once.

* * *

"So... you can take your fingers from your ears now kids, I'm not as loud as Mr. Fredrick." The female teacher, Delilah, said. His name was actually _Fred_rick? *bursts out laughing* "Right... anyway! The rooms all have four beds in each, so if you have friends in this group you can go with them! Alright, group up guys."

It wasn't as chaotic as I expected, everyone knew their friends and got into groups. Kite noticed Scarlet and Nevee easily, running over and tripping over his _tied up_ laces on the way. Kite, dude, your bad luck really better not rub off on these two! They have enough as it is.

"Nice to see you too." Kite said when he reached them.

"She _does_ have a point." Scarlet chuckled. "Well, one more person to fill the room I guess."  
"Who? New friend, new friend!" Nevee cheered. Who are you? Wigglytuff of PMD2? Next thing you know she'll sleep with her eyes open and run after apples.

"She already does." Scarlet said. O.o

"Um, hey... have you got a spare bed in your room?" A small voice asked. The three looked and saw a girl with spiky purple hair, but orange roots, out in all directions and blue eyes. She was looking very shy, hands clasped in front of her and fiddling nervously with the Poké Ball attached to her belt.

"Yeah, we do. You need it?" Scarlet asked. The girl nodded. "Well, sure. What's your name?"

"Lucy..." Lucy said. Nevee grinned at her.

"Hi Ya!" She greeted. "I'm Nevee!"

Scarlet pushed the girl back onto her flat feet, then holding her hand out. "I'm Scarlet." Lucy shook the hand.

"And I'm Kite!" Kite said, also shaking the girl's hand... then promptly falling over. Lucy moved out of the way just in time, so he fell face first onto the floor. "Ouch."

"His bad luck is lethal." Scarlet said.

* * *

"There are only two beds a room in this dorm area, sorry guys!" A male teacher, Danny, said. A few people groaned. "Not my fault, this school wasn't built evenly! Now, get into pairs."

Indigo, Jaspa.

"Oh c'mon!" Indigo said. Hey, I am not adding any more people in this chapter, OK? Get into the pair, NOW! They got into a pair.

Good kiddies. "Shut up." Both hissed.

* * *

"**Three beds a room, kids! Get into groups!**" Mr. Fredrick boomed. Auberon covered his ears. Extra elf hearing?

"Got it in one." Auberon groaned. *giggle* "HEY!" I've dealt with elves before, of course I got it in one! I'm a huge Artemis Fowl fan as well as Twilight and Pokémon, ya know!

"So, lemme guess, us three?" Star said. Yep, no more new characters. "What about the purple girl?" She is my current favourite OC, she's not been in anything yet but she will be soon.

"Ok... rooms now?" Christian said. Nah, end of the chapter now! Whoop!

* * *

**Me: AT LAST! Phew, finally got it up alive. Well, R&R!**


	24. Ep 23: Ah, the wonders of SCHOOL! XD

**Me: BAACK! Ugh, five more weeks of school! I can't stand it! Tests, tests, tests... ugh! Well, one good thing is I get to design and (hopefully) make a running website! =D So, one day I might have a blog... I hope. Though knowing me I'll forget to do it anyway. ^^; Well, here we are!**

**Episode 23- Ah, the wonders of SCHOOL! XD**

"**And last chapter our heroes found themselves back at school! Seems Authoress's young self wanted to give someone the same fate she has. So, with them all against each other in the competitions what's going to happen?"**

"I am being forced to apologise to Kite for saying his luck is lethal." Scarlet said. "So..." She turned to Kite. "Sorry." Good girl. "Buuuut, it is funny." I'd have to agree with you there.

"I don't find it funny!" Kite said, waving his fist at me. Well, you wouldn't, we do though.

Lucy was sat quietly on her bed, playing with something in her hands. Scarlet was hanging backwards down the ladder, holding on by her feet under the bars on the other side of the bunk. Nevee was playing with Eve, giggling and being... Nevee, whilst Kite was sitting on his bed, trying his best not to succumb to more bad luck.

So, you tried on the uniforms? You need them on for the next assembly, you're going to find out the first challenge!

"Do we _have _to?" Scarlet groaned, showing off and doing a back flip to land on her feet. SHOW OFF! "Of c'mon, it's not like I'm the only one." Whatever, and yes, you do!

"Well, since I'm the only boy in this room I get the bathroom!" Kite said, standing up without any problems and then walking to the tiny en suite to get changed. Fast forward a while and all the girls are in a white blouse, black skirts and a pair of black shoes.

"Well, this sucks. And Nevee will have that top covered in chocolate by the end of the day." Scarlet said. "How do you like it, Lucy?"

"It's alright..." Lucy said shyly. Aw, Lucy. No need to be shy, they're nice people really, just weird.

"Hey!" Kite yelled. Did I say I was insulting you? No. "I wasn't saying hey at that! I was saying hey because the doorknob fell off and I'm locked in!"

Scarlet fell down anime style. Oh my god... *burst out laughing*

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Where are they?" Indigo asked, huffing and pulling her skirts hem down. Too short? "Way too short, and too skirt-ish." *sweatdrop* Well, it's a skirt. It would be 'skirt-ish'. Jaspa stood beside her in... well, what would be his usual if I let him. A white shirt and a pair of black dress pants.

"Why aren't I allowed again?" Jaspa asked. Because, dofus, I'm not letting you turn into another Artemis Fowl. "Who said I would?" Your personality.

"Back to my question, where are they?" Indigo said. Well, Nevee and Scarlet are probably trying to get Kite out of the bathroom. The doorknob fell off. "Why does that not surprise me?" Meh, I wouldn't expect it to. Anyway, be nice to the new girl will ya? She'll probably appear a couple more times after this because of a certain link I am not gonna mention! "Why doesn't that surprise me either?" BECAUSE YOU READ A SCRIPT! DUH!

"Gee, no need to bite her head off Authoress." Auberon said as the three from blue team walked in. Ah Shuddup. I'm in no mood to be p'd off by you guys, K? Good, now wait patiently for the others. "Ooo! Looks who's being moody!"

"I think she's serious, Auberon." Star said. Damn right I am! FINGER ON LIPS!

"What are we? Primary School kids?" Indigo asked. Yeah, in my country you would be, now I repeat FINGERS ON LIPS!

"You scare me sometimes." Christian said before doing so. The others all followed his lead.

"What is going on here?" Scarlet asked.

"COOKIES!" Nevee cheered. No, Nevee, not cookies. Silence.

"What did they do?" Kite asked. They annoyed me. "Oh, I see." Lucy looked at them all with a strange look.

"Oh, this is Lucy by the way." Scarlet said. The others nodded.

"**Everybody into the hall!**" Mr. Fredrick called. Everyone covered their ears again before walking into the hall. You know, no offence Lucy, but I think whilst you're here you might need a different hairstyle. That just doesn't look right at all in that uniform. Lucy nodded and followed them.

Everyone in the hall- a total of sixty- were chatting before there was a loud tapping and Fredrick cleared his throat.

"**Right, now I have your attention I will announce the rules and challenge of the first... challenge!**" Real way with words, right? "**Whoever that was shut up! Anyway, the first challenge is orienteering, but with a difference! It will all be based underwater!**"

"Underwater?"

"What? Have they gone mad?"

"Sounds fun."

"Ugh... why did mom sign me up for this?"

There were definitely mixed reactions, but for once out heroes were actually being... normal. They seemed to be _interested_. Kodak moment!

"Ah shut up." Scarlet said.

"**You will all be in twos within your teams to do this, and it will start tomorrow due to the fact it's now almost eight pm! Rules will be explained in full tomorrow... now go! Flee little kiddies, back to your rooms until dinner!**"

"He scares me..." Indigo said. Tell me about it!

~X~X~X~

So, later that night after dinner I checked in the Red Dorm room, and guess what? _Scarlet wasn't there_! But I did find her outside in the woods.

Trying to escape?

"Nah." Scarlet said, thrusting another Aura Sphere at a tree. Ah, taking Nathen's advice I see. "Yep." You do realise that the challenge means you'll get woken at six am, right? "Yep." And you'll need sleep. "Yep."

Another tree fell as she launched a larger aura sphere.

"I'm gonna train 'til midnight and then get six hours sleep." Scarlet said. "If I can sneak back in that is." Dudette, you can. If you can get out you can get in. "Sure." Another sphere sent a few poor Starly flying. Try something else, one suggestion was Meditation. "Nah, not tonight. I'm not calm enough for somethin' like that." Why? "You."

"Hello." Someone said. Scarlet jumped, spinning around. "It's just me." Lucy walked out of the trees in a pair of long purple PJs and a black jacket.

"What're you doing out here?" Scarlet asked. Lucy gestured to the spheres that Scarlet had formed by instinct. "Ah."

"Don't worry." Lucy said, holding her palm flat up, an aura ball – for some reason purple – formed in her palm. "I can use it too. In fact... I was once a member of the organization chasing after your family."

Scarlet was in a defensive position in seconds, and Lucy had dodged the two spheres thrown at her. Scarlet snarled.

"You _what_?" She said. Lucy put her hands up.

"I'm not after you, I quit ages ago... I say quit... more like ran away." Lucy said. "I only know about them going after you family because of the reports in the papers. It's always the same with Universal Aura, no sign of entry, sudden and unexplained disappearance. It's their usual." She explained.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Scarlet asked.

"Look at my aura." Lucy said. Scarlet closed her eyes and she looked at Lucy. Her aura was purple for some reason, like her sphere, and showed no signs of recent disturbance.

"You're telling the truth." Scarlet nodded, opening her eyes and standing up straight.

"For one so young you know a lot." Lucy commented. Scarlet shrugged.

"I had a couple of good teachers." She said. Lucy closed her eyes.

"And strong aura. Could you use a training partner?" the purple haired girl asked. Scarlet grinned. "I'll take that as a yes, but don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Wouldn't want ya to." Scarlet said.

~X~X~X~

Lemme guess, late night?

Scarlet was sitting groggily at the breakfast table, face having fallen into her cereal a couple of times. Kite was snickering slightly whilst Nevee was being oblivious and just eating her cereal happily. Lucy seemed a little tired too, and she was rubbing her arm every few minutes.

"Yep..." Scarlet groaned. Guys, someone splash her with cold wat-... Asher suddenly popped out and use Ember on his trainer's face. "WAH!" Good one Ember! "Oi! That was sooo not fair!" It woke you up though.

"You fell asleep in your cereal, twice." Kite said. "Sometimes you guys are more unlucky than me."  
"And that is hard to do!" Nevee giggled before continuing to eat. Did... did she just make a true comment whilst still insane? Miracle!

"Where are the others?" Scarlet asked. In their dorm canteens, I'm going to check on them now.

~X~X~X~

Nice sleep you two? WAH! *hides behind wall* If looks could kill...

"Fine thanks." Indigo said, shoving a spoon of 'Coco Pops' into her mouth. Oh c'mon, surely you two didn't sit there silently until you went to s-... oh my god you did! GAH! This is hopeless! TALK!

"Shut up." Jaspa said. You are getting more agitated every day, I swear. "You know bloody why." Yes I do but I'm not going onto that subject or that look might actually kill. "Wise move."

But seriously you two, what happened to the closeness? I can't have had that much impact.

"Nah, you didn't. We're still friends, Authoress, but there is the others and they are really nosey and might be spying on us." Indigo said. They're not. I saw them two seconds ago and they're on the other side of the building. "In that case..." I saw her arm move, so I zoomed in under the table. EEE! They're holding hands! So cute!

_**Somewhere else in the Canteen...**_

"Hurry up with those plates!" A familiar yet badly disguised woman yelled at another familiar but badly disguised male. Her disguise was made of a dodgy black wig formed into pigtails, a _hot pink_ tie over her uniform and the fact she was still as tall as an adult. -_- His was the same, including the tie, apart from the hair being normal coloured and very neat.

I feel sorry for Gareth.

Hey you two! Where's Meowth?

"Shut up authoress." Gwen hissed. "You'll blow our cover!" Well duh!

"Ignore her." Someone said from Gwen's bag. Ah, there he is. Gareth put the plates on the table and then sat down, with one plate for himself. You guys never change.

~X~X~X~

"Come to bother us?" Auberon asked. Nah, just to see whatcha doing. Annnnd to ask if Christian and Star have a plan to help those two *jerks thumb to indicate section above* to confess.

"We have one." Star said. "Not telling you what though." Alright, guess I'll just have to wait and see. It is to do with the challenge, right?

"Yep." Christian replied as he ate his breakfast. Good.

"Don't I get to be a matchmaker?" Auberon asked. No. "YOU HATE ME!" No I don't, you'd just make it completely ridiculous is all, and the fact I already have two/three matchmaker groups planned. "Damn." You get to tease them later on though. "Deal."

"**Alright everyone!**" Fredrick's voice boomed from the speakers. Everyone covered their ears again. "**Go get into your swimwear and meet outside by your team flags!**"

"Can he learn to shut his yap?" Auberon said.

"**Remember you already have a cleaning duty, Mr. Baker!**" Auberon groaned and cursed under his breath. Want me to get you another penalty for swearing? No? Shut up then.

~X~X~X~

A little while later they all were out by their respective colour coded team flags. Hee-hee, nice trunks Auberon. *bursts out laughing*

"Mom made me bring them." Auberon said. They were very, very bright tropical print... it hurts my eyes but it's so funny!

"**Alright, into twos!**" Mr. Fredrick said to his dorm group. Ah, seems we have a problem... dammit. I don't wanna add someone else so random person... disappear! "**And one group of three!**" Phew.

With the reds they have split into the groups Lucy & Scarlet and Kite & Nevee. I feel sorry for both Nevee and Kite. Nevee... isn't the best swimmer.

"Now you tell me!" Kite exclaimed. "Dammit!"

And with the greens they are obviously in the group Indigo and Jaspa. AW!

"**So, the rules are no coming to the surface unless the clue specifies it before time is up! No cheating, of course. And no Pokémon!**" Mr. Fred said. Well, this is a Poké School with no Pokémon allowed in the first challenge? That makes no sense. "**Whoever that is I've said it twice I'll say it again, shut up with the cheek!**" He doesn't have a brain, guys. "**You will all go off team by team! But at the same time as the other dorm groups!**"

"He needs to flippin' get a voice box transplant!" Auberon said. I know!

"**All get in a line by each flag in your pairs!**" he then boomed into a mike. OW! I heard that echo into my gym and I am in KANTO! SHUT UP DUDE!

Everyone got into the lines ready to dive in. Each pair/the trio were given a laminated clue sheet and a breathing device each. Scarlet and Lucy nodded at each other, now I can see why she was rubbing her arm. Big bruise ya got there, Lu.

"**Go!**"

Lucy and Scarlet were in first for the red team, a random pair for blue and Indigo (bruises all covered by make-up by the way) and Jaspa for green. Then for blue was Auberon, Star and Christian and some other random pairs for the others.

_**Lucy and Scarlet**_

"What's the first clue, Lu'?" Scarlet asked the older girl. Lucy, hair now combed down, looked at the laminated sheet.

"Dark and wet and full of light... well that doesn't make any sense at all. How can it be full of light if it's dark?" Lucy said.

"The first bit sounds like it's talking about a cave... but the last bit just ruined that idea." Scarlet said as the two began swimming off.

"Wait... think about it. Is there a water Pokémon that makes light?" Lucy asked, stopping suddenly. Scarlet spun around to face her.

"Uh... yeah. Lanturn." She replied. "It has this little light on the end of an antennae thing."

"So think, 'Dark and Wet' some underwater cave 'And full of light' Lanturn!" Lucy said. "So a cave full of Lanturn! Let's go!"

"Wait up! Stay still." Scarlet said, closing her eyes and looking around at each visible underwater cave. Lucy didn't move, so there were no disturbances making Scarlet's still iffy talent clouded. A moment later Scarlet's eyes opened again. "Got it! Follow me!" And she started to swim off. Isn't that cheating? "Did he say anything about not being able to use Aura?" No... "Then it's not cheating."

"Oh you people are one interesting bunch." Lucy laughed.

_**Christian, Star and Auberon**_

"First clue, 'ey?" Auberon said. Christian raised an eyebrow at him. Auberon just shrugged. Star giggled at the two and then looked at their first clue.

"Above and below, look between." She read out. Auberon looked confused. "Well... that's really not helpful."

"Above and below could mean something you can go over and under..." Christian thought aloud. Star looked around the water, looking for anything similar to that description, her eyes landed on a rock that had formed in a very peculiar way. Like an A.

"Huh... hey boys, look over there!" She said, pointing at it and then swimming toward it.

"Hey, wait up!" Auberon said. The two boys swam after her, she was by the rock and looking around the – bit of the A shape. "Eh?"

"Its in-between the above and below bits of the A shape." Star hinted.

"Oh!" Christian said. "I get it."

"Now boys, you carry on searching, I got something to do." Star said, swimming off.

_**Indigo and Jaspa**_

"What's our first clue?" Indigo said, peering over Jaspa's shoulder. I can almost see a blush on Jaspa's cheeks, another Kodak Moment!

"We need to find a group of Corsola." Jaspa said without even telling us the clue. What was the clue, dude? "We need to find a group of Corsola." He repeated, swimming off. Indigo raised an eyebrow at him before beginning to follow.

Suddenly Indigo found herself being pulled backwards and further down into the water, she screamed, looking behind her and seeing a Twister spinning below her.

"JASPA!" She yelled. Jaspa turned around and gasped.

"Indigo!" He exclaimed. Indigo felt herself get pulled deeper and deeper, soon finding herself being thrashed around by the Twister, her mouth piece was coming loose and she was finding it hard to breath. Jaspa tried to swim closer but found he couldn't. "God dammit, Indigo!" He grabbed his mouthpiece and threw it off, not before taking a deep breath of air of course, and then forced himself down into the Twister. **(Have any of you noticed I keep capitalising the T in twister? That's a hint as to what's happening! ;) **

~X~X~X~

**Me: Am I evil for leaving it there? I can't be completely evil, it's a longer chapter than normal, right? :) I've been obsessed with PMD2/3 recently, and am writing a fic about it and making a sprite comic too so that's why this wasn't up yesterday. ^^; And how ya like the new scene splitter? Better than a boring old line? XD**


	25. Ep 24: School, most evil invention ever

**Me: AND WE'RE BACK! WHOOP! And... I suck at PMD3. It took me three days and tons and tons of reviver seeds to beat Groudon and five hours to get through Northern Desert and now I'm stuck in the other sand place after that. *groan* WHEN WILL **_**MY**_** BAD LUCK END? XD (Ah I so hope we get to keep these websites, so then I can stop ranting in authoress notes!) And yes, the person who anonymously reviewed, he will come back soon.**

**Episode 24- School, the most evil invention ever. **

"**Last chapter our heroes discovered the wonders of school and have started their first challenge! But with Indigo and Jaspa encountering a problem early on who is going to win?"**

"Please remind me why we weren't in the ending of last chapter." Kite said as he and Nevee were treading water. Because, Kite, I left it on a cliff-hanger and you were the last pair to go in. I didn't even notice you go in! "Blame the people who pushed us in before anyone else!" Who were they? "Some people from the green team, they must have had a growth spurt and a half!" *head-desk* YES! I have a desk, no head-floor this time!

"I wanna see a Squirtle!" Nevee said. I doubt you will, Nevee. "Aw man!" They aren't native to Sinnoh; with a brother like Jaspa you should know that. Anyway, what is your first clue? I need to get going soon so the readers don't kill me for leaving it so long before I show the result of the cliff-hanger.

"Oh boy, I know the answer." Kite said. What then? "Luvdisc gathering." Ah. Now... that would have been sooo much better for Indigo and Jaspa. "Can I leave Nevee hear for that? Seriously, I would only go near Luvdisc with one girl." And I know who that is! *giggle* Kite blushed. "How much did my 'submitter' say about that?" Oh, I happen to know almost everything about you all.

"AHHHHHH! STALKER!" Nevee screamed, _running_ around under the water like she would on land. How does she even know what a Stalker is? I thought she was oblivious to everything other than her imaginary friend, cookies, jam and bananas?

"She has a point though." Kite said. Kite, shut up. He began swimming, leaving Nevee to her own devices until he'd done the Luvdisc clue.

A second later he was knocked into a coral formation (do not ask me how there is coral in a lake) when a Squirtle smashed into him.

"Squirtle!" Nevee cheered. *anime style fall*

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

Jaspa pushed down into the Twister with strength I didn't realise he had, he was obviously finding it hard to see since he not only needed glasses but the force of the water was making opening his eyes a challenge of its own. He could just make out the green of the top half of Indigo's swimming costume, pushing towards it.

He reached his hand out, trying to find her in the rush of bubbles pushing against them both, trying to break his arm with the sheer force of the spinning water. His breath was being forced out of him. He was afraid soon there would be two casualties here.

Jaspa then felt his hand grab onto Indigo's shoulder, he pulled her up and then grabbed her hand in his, bringing her as close as possible to him and the forcing up out of the twister.

The two shot up to the surface, Jaspa taking a deep breath of air as soon as they broke through the water. Indigo wasn't conscious. In panic Jaspa quickly swam to shore and placed Indigo down.

"Indigo! Indigo!" He exclaimed, shaking her. No response. He leant down and placed his cheek hovering over her mouth, watching for movement of the chest. Nothing. "DAMMIT!" USE BLOODY CPR! Jaspa nodded shakily. Remember, five breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions and so on. "G-Got it." Blushing bright red he pinched Indigo's nose together and leant her head back slightly, breathing into her mouth. (Better remember this, it'll be the closest to kissing we'll get from them in a while). He did this five times before pressing over her chest with his hands, trying to get the blood pumping again. Boy am I glad I go to rookie lifeguard class...

A few tries later Indigo coughed, spitting water out and opening her eyes slowly. Jaspa breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing the girl in a hug. Indigo coughed a few more times, finding herself blushing faintly when she realised what had happened.

"Thank the lord Arceus you're OK, Indigo!" Jaspa said. "You scared the sh!t outta me!" JASPA! I never thought I'd hear language like that from you! Jaspa glared at me. Okay, with the knowledge I have I know that look may actually start to kill me if I don't leave... bye! *runs* Jaspa looked down at Indigo, seeing her half laughing half embarrassed.

"Thanks..." She said. "You do realise we're disqualified now?"

"I don't really care, Indigo." Jaspa said. Somewhere far away: D'awwww!

~X~X~X~

That went a bit far, Star.

Star swam out from behind the rock she was hiding behind, her Milotic (gifted as an egg from her Aunt Alessandra/Alex) following her.

"I know, I know. It wasn't supposed to go so far he needed to do _that_. But then again, it did kinda help more this way." Star shrugged. Almost killing Indigo helps? Star's face became -_-. "I meant the CPR part, dumbo!" OI! I don't have big ears! "I would fall down 'anime style' if I weren't in water." Whatever, go back to your teammates now.

Star swam off.

_**Auberon and Christian... oh, Star too**_

"Hey guys! I'm back!" Star called as she swam up to them. The boys turned around, they _could_ have been smiling but those mouth pieces get in the way.

"Hey sis, we got the Flag!" Christian said, holding up a blue flag. Star nodded, giving him a thumbs-up and then stopping in front of them. "It was right where you thought."

"Told ya." Star said.

"Why am I getting the feeling I missed a great opportunity to tease someone?" Auberon asked. You always get that feeling, dude.

"How did whatever ya did go?" Christian asked.

"Fine, I think." Star replied. "Shoulda worked." Christian nodded. Clue? "Right."

_**Scarlet and Lucy**_

"WAH! Flippin' heck there are a lot of Lanturn!" Scarlet exclaimed as the two swam into the cave seen last chapter. Well, it did say _full _of light, and _full_ seems about right. Flippin' hell! Is there even an _inch_ of space in there?

"How do we get to the flag?" Lucy asked, she pointed at a small patch of red behind all the Lanturn, Scarlet squinted to see it.

"Um... one of us blows a gap in the middle of the group?" Scarlet asked. Lucy shrugged. "You?"

"Yeah, your Aura may not be strong enough to fire in water yet." She said. Wait... SAY WUT? You're gonna blow a hole in the group with Aura? I should not have let you two pair up... I shoulda known something like this would happen. Two aura users + one group = DANGER!

"Stop overreacting, Authoress." Scarlet said. "It'll just scare 'em." It better! I don't want health and safety on my back again! "Ready Lucy?"

"Always." Lucy said, forming an aura sphere in her palm that pushed the water around it into small whirlpools that glowed purple like her sphere. A second later she threw it and the Lanturn all fled. "Well, that had more than the desired effect." Just get the damn flag.

Scarlet swam, grabbing the flag from its hold in the rock wall and shoving it into the plastic flag bag they had been given.

"Next?"

_**Kite and Nevee**_

I see she stayed put when you got the clue. Kite nodded at me.

"She was freaking out about the Squirtle I think." Kite said. "She didn't move from this area." Good, who knows what tr-... GAH! Where is she? Kite spun around and saw Nevee was no longer where she was a second ago. YOU LOST THE MOST DANGEROUS MEMBER OF THE GROUP! "Wait, wait, wait! Insane Nevee may be but she is not that dangerous!" You don't know as much as I do, now find her before she does something she regrets! "Alright, alright! Sheesh, are you setting this up so Lucy and Scarlet win?" No, I am not! Christian, Auberon and Star are doing fine too! Now GO!

_**Christian, Star and Auberon**_

"What's the next clue then?" Auberon asked impatiently. Sheesh, elf, even _I'm_ more patient than you! And I am no patient gal. Now, clue! NOW! "Hypocrite." Do you even know what that means? "Nah, but Scarlet calls me that when I tell her not to do something and then do it." Well done! You just learnt the meaning!

"Right... anyway, clue time." Christian said. "This should be an easy one, go and find Lumineon." He then read out. That's the clue? "Yup."

"Isn't this supposed to be a puzzle, not just tell us what to find straight away?" Star said. I dunno, maybe Mr. Fredrick is dumb as well as loud? No, scrap the maybe. He doesn't even realise he's got a narrator in the school! Everyone here can hear me and he just thinks I'm a kid? -_-

"Let's just go find this Lumineon." Auberon said, swimming off. It's says _a_ Lumineon. The hard part with this clue is _which_ Lumineon?

_**TRm3... oh sorry, I mean Jack and Jill... -_-**_

"Gimme the sh!tty flag, idiot!" Gwen/Jill yelled at Gareth/Jack. God, you guys and your language are worse than the kids! "Shut up Authoress! Oh why oh why did we have to ask for a part again?"

"Because we're idiots, Gwen!" Gareth replied, earning another hit from the woman. "OW! GWEN!" You two never change! Where's Meowth?

"Don't know, don't care. Probably plotting our next plan for in a few chapters." Gwen said. "Now, give me the damn flag Gareth!"

"No, I have the Flag Bag." Gareth said. Gwen fumed.

"Give me the damn bag too then!" She shouted. I am sooo getting out of here...

_**Kite**_

You found her?

"No, I haven't." Kite said. Dammit! You better find her soon! She is lethal to herself. "Right..." I'm not kidding. She could actually kill herself by _accident_. "Nevee sure is strange..." Ah well, everyone loves her that way. And again, I'm not kidding. Only _one_ person voted against her never having her medication again. "I wish she did."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He heard a second later.

"Nevee." He sighed, swimming off. "What da ya think has happened to her?" I don't wanna know, but I guess I gotta find out.

Kite swam on until he found Nevee squealing because she had a _blue_ flag in her hand. Kite sweatdropped.

"Wrong colour, Nevee." He said.

~X~X~X~

Annnnd since I ran out of clue ideas it's time to skip time until we reach the end of the competition! Flag count is as follows: **Scarlet and Lucy: **Three **Auberon, Star and Christian: **Four **Nevee and Kite: **One **Indigo and Jaspa: **N/A **'Jack' and 'Jill': **½

"What happened with you two?" Scarlet asked Indigo as they all sat in the hall waiting for the results to be sorted out.

"I almost drowned, basically. Jaspa just managed to pull me out in time though." Indigo half-lied. Scarlet shrugged at her and looked to the front where Mr. Fredrick had just walked back on.

"I got earplugs this time." Auberon said. Then you won't know who won. "It weren't us, that I know." You got the most flags out of you lot! "And?" *groan* Look dude, my form won my school sports day and _I _thought we would lose, the same concept applies here. It don't matter what you think, just what happens. NOW PUT THE EARPLUGS AWAY! "Sheesh... you sure have a short temper..." I know, and the boys in my class make it a point to remind me every day.

"**Alright everyone! The results are now in, first we will do individual group results and then overall Dorm Group results! OK... in third place for the Blue team... Blah and Blah! In second place for the blue team... Christian Black, Star Black and Auberon Baker!**"

Told you!

"We didn't win." Christian pointed out. Ah shuddup.

"**... Blah and Blah! Next, the red team! In third place... Blah and Blah! In second... Blah and Blah! And in first... Blah and Blah!**"

Bad luck there, you guys.

"That is not funny." Kite said. I wasn't trying to be, but it really was bad luck that made you lose though. "I know..." Nevee giggled.

"I feel sorry for you." Scarlet said whilst trying to stifle a laugh. You are very unconvincing.

"**And finally the green team!**" We don't need to listen to that, Indigo and Jaspa were disqualified for leaving the water.

"I still wanna know what happened..." Auberon said. Christian and Star both had to force back a laugh.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Phew! About time I got this up ain't it? ^^; Well, R&R!**


	26. Ep 25: It just gets worse

**Me: I now have two things never to mention... A certain incident twenty years ago involving an Infernape and Alex and the fact Indigo was almost killed under my authority or Pearl and Leaf will kill me... I-... CRAP! Uh, g-gotta run! WAH! *runs off screaming shortly followed by Blaze the Infernape* **

**Episode 25- It just gets worse**

"**What is happening here? *looks at old scripts* Ah, **_**that**_** chapter. Anyway! Last episode: Indigo almost died – again, the first challenge finished and now we join them that night!"**

"What happened out there, Indigo?" Jaspa asked as he lay on his bed. Indigo shrugged. "Did _you_ have anything to do with it, Authoress?" No, I didn't. I don't even know what happened myself! I'm as confused as you two. "Right..." Really, I'm not lying this time.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with Authoress?" Indigo said. Ha-ha, so funny I'm dying. Shut up. "You're in a mood, aren't you?" Your classmates haven't given your teacher the impression you have major anger issues. "You do th-..." SHUT UP!

"Her point exactly." Jaspa said. I'm not saying that! I'm saying like _major, major_ anger issues. Like homicidal issues. "Yet again, her point. You have had homicidal moments." ...alright, you got me. Yeah, I do... dammit. I'm doomed.

"Well... better get to sleep now, cya in the morning Jaspa." Indigo said, laying down. God you two! (Dammit! I think the plan made it even more awkward... GAH!)

"See you then, then. Night." Jaspa said. Indigo was asleep soon after. Dude, you gotta tell her. "No." God! You are as bad as Ruby last season, not telling bloody Peter for ages! And Pearl! "So nice being compared to a girl." OK... um, oh yeah! As bad as bloody Leaf! "No better." Look, I'm already gonna have Indigo's parents on my back if they find out Indigo almost died when I'm supposed to keep you all alive! I don't need you insulting them too. GAH! "Anger issues..." I'll shut up.

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

Scarlet was flipping through a book, lying on her bed. What's that?

"Artemis Fowl." She said. *face-palm*

"What was that for, Authoress?" Lucy asked. You wouldn't know, but seriously, last series the mythical creature involved was a vampire and the main character read 'Twilight'. This series we have Auberon, an elf in effect, and the main character is reading 'Artemis Fowl'. If that isn't bloody ironic then what is it?

"Coincidence?" Kite suggested. Nah, coincidences don't exist in fanfiction. "Fan what?" Never mind.

"Fanfiction is what we are in, dude." Scarlet said, turning another page and laughing. What? "I quote: 'We're being lead by an idiot with a crayon'." *giggle* I remember that scene... wait! You're only on the second book? "Nah, I'm re reading."

"I am slightly worried about _both_ of your sanities." Lucy said, turning over and messing with something in her hands again. No one could see it though.

"What are you playing with, Lucy?" Kite asked. Lucy gave him a glare, and he was sure he could see her blue eyes flash purple. "I'll take that as a no comment..." Lucy's harmless really, ya know.

"She sooo isn't, she's about as harmless as Nevee when she's on a sugar high." Scarlet pointed out. Ah shuddup, Kite doesn't know what we're talking about so we better shut the heck up.

"I want cookies!" Nevee said from... wait, where is Nevee anyway?

"She's hiding in the washing basket." All three said at once. O.o

~X~X~X~

"I am getting the feeling Nevee just did something strange." Auberon said. You would be right. "Thought so, then again, she always does strange things." Too true.

"What did she do?" Christian asked, looking over his old ribbons. She is hiding the laundry basket. "O.o." My sentiments exactly.

"Whaddya mean old ribbons?" Auberon asked. Ah, explanation time guys. I'm pretty sure you two know all about the fact I know all about you?

"We're used to it, just don't tell anyone who isn't that you do." Star said. I know, I know. I've been reminded of that once already, I know not to. "You were reminded about Aunt Alex's Blaze though, right? And you mentioned that." Shut up.

"Anyway... thing is I was a coordinator until pretty recently. I then discovered I preferred gyms and started them, I have the last three badges of the region now."  
"And I was a trainer until recently too, but then I found I liked contests and gave up gyms. I have on ribbon and five badges."

"Why not just give each other the old badges and ribbons?" Auberon asked. Auberon, that isn't allowed, idiot. It's registered who gets what. They have to win them by themselves. "You gave one to Aunt Pearl." I am all powerful, I can manipulate rules. You, on the other hand, can't. "Ah shuddup." Nah, now Auberon, LEAVE THE ROOM! "What, why?" I need to talk to Christian and Star, ALONE! I will know if you eavesdrop too. "Dammit." Go.

Auberon reluctantly stood up and left the room, once I was sure he was gone and not listening... So guys, Star you've done your plan and have also probably succeeded in getting me killed by Pearl and Leaf... what is Christian gonna do?

"We haven't figured that out yet. We had a plan, as you know, but without breaking the laws of reality it ain't gonna happen." Christian said. Breaking the laws of reality? Let's do it. "Alright then, do you know how we can teach a Pokémon a move it can't use?" Sure as hell I do. "Alrighty then, tomorrow night we sort this out!"

~X~X~X~

"Boss, we have news on the Ketchum family tree." A male voice said. A dark figure, not like the dark figure we are all familiar with, nodded his head sharply, as if telling the man to go on. "We found the next in line, a woman named Ruby Stone-Ketchum. She's married, has three kids and is currently residing in Pallet town. She has four siblings we are currently tracking down."

"Good." The dark figure said in a deep voice, a male. "Now, get your strongest team together and go. Commander 3 will accompany you on this mission, the Ketchums are a dangerous bunch."

"Yes sir!" The grunt nodded, purple hair now showing from under a dark hood. "Right away, sir!"

"Wait here whilst I call her." The boss said, picking up an internal phone and dialling the number 3 and then putting it to his ear. "Jennifer, we have a mission for you. Get your ass up to top floor now."

"_Yes sir, I'm coming up now. I was on my way anyway._" A female voice, buzzing with the sound of the phone, replied. A click was heard as the phone was hung up, and the boss put the handset down. The grunt jittered as they waited in silence for the girl to arrive. A few minutes later and the doors opened with a mechanic but smooth sound and someone walked in. She wore a black jacket with a purple crystal insignia on the back, a black turtle neck and purple shorts with black socks almost reaching the shorts underneath black boots. Her hair was a sandy colour, but darker than normal sandy hair, and greeny-grey eyes.

"What do I need to do, Master Ricky?" Jennifer, better known as Jenni, said.

~X~X~X~

_**The next morning...**_

"Get ya ass up, Kite! It's morning!" Scarlet yelled down the boy's ear. Kite jumped up, promptly head butting the bunk above him. Scarlet giggled and ran out of the room to make sure he didn't try and get her for that. Kite groaned. Bad day already?

"Unlucky day already." He corrected, sitting up and rubbing his head. Get dressed, everyone is gathering in the hall. "What time is it?" Hmmm... you have five minutes. "SAY WHAT?"

Uh... Scarlet is at fault here! Not me! *runs*

~X~X~X~

A little while later everyone was sitting back in the hall, waiting for the ridiculously loud Mr. Fredrick to come in. Auberon, Scarlet, I will warn you that after the first part of the morning you two will be doing your cleaning duty.

"Well that sucks." Auberon said.

"No, what sucks is Scarlet decided to wake me up _five minutes _before we had to get here and made my hit my head off the damn top bunk!" Kite said. She said sorry, dude. Let it be.

"You guys, are mad." Lucy said. Get used to it girl, get used to it. You have to hang around with even crazier people in your other story! "Is that possible?"

"Oi, I find that..." Auberon started before Nevee exclaimed:

"SAUSAGES!" Everyone chuckled, except a now frustrated Auberon. Dude, you always say you 'resent that' or 'find that offensive', it's annoying.

"Shut up." Auberon grumbled.

"**Telling others to 'shut up' may make your cleaning duty longer, Mr. Baker.**" Mr. Fredrick said as he walked into the room, standing on the stage again. The elf like boy groaned. "**Anyway! I'm sure you're all curious as to what you'll be doing today, right?**"

"Sure as hell we are." Star said. Auberon crossed his fingers, hoping Mr. Fredrick had heard her but alas, no, he didn't.

"Too bad for you, Elf." Indigo giggled. Auberon glared at her, which in turn made Jaspa glare at him. Guys, don't bother. If you fight then you'll _all _be on cleaning duty! And I am not kidding! I'm soaking wet from getting water chucked over me and am really annoyed at two people I am about read to tear the head off, so don't get on my bad side!

"You're always in a bad mood." Scarlet said. Yah, I know. That's because people just love pissing me off. "YOU HYPOCRITE!" Dammit...

"**Well, I'm afraid there isn't any challenge today, instead you'll be doing lessons!**" An audible groan rang through the hall. "**We know, but this is a Pokémon **_**School**_**, you have to learn something!**" YES! FINALLY YOU GO THROUGH THE SAME CRAP AS ME! "**Whoever that was join the other two in cleaning duty!**" He really is dim... Everyone in the hall except Mr. Fredrick laughed.

"Now everyone!" Another teacher said into the mike. "You're all in classrooms in your Dorm Groups! A teacher will lead you there! But the three people who have to do the cleaning will need to head straight to the place you'll be cleaning." Uh, one request, Auberon _really_ needs to catch up with school, can someone teach him normal subjects later on? "Sure." Thanks.

"NOOO!" Auberon yelled. "YOU HATE ME!" No I don't. You really do need to learn basic stuff other than Pokémon!

"How much does he know?" Star asked. Lemme put it this way, he thinks one plus one is seven.

"That is dire." Christian said. Auberon slumped over.

"Shut up." He mumbled.

~X~X~X~

"WAH!" Scarlet exclaimed as Gem dropped down.

"What? I thought you'd be used to that by now." Gem said. Scarlet nodded. "Then what?"

"Why have your eyes changed colour?" Auberon asked, gesturing to the fact that Gem's eyes were no longer yellow or brown, but a grey-green-blue kind of colour.

"No need to explain, it's no important. To put it simply as my OC changes, so does the me who gets dropped down into here. Gemma won't be any different, though." Gem shrugged, then yelling to Lucy who had left a moment ago. "Or 'Hotaru', Lucy!" An acknowledging yell was heard. "Now, down to business."

"Where do we have to clean exactly?" Scarlet asked. Gem got a disturbed look on her face.

"The Kitchen." She said.

"And how bad can _that_ be?" Auberon said. Gem shuddered. "I don't like the way this is making me feel... is it _really_ that bad?"

"And worse." Gem said. She lead them to the kitchen, opening the doors and revealing the horror that was inside.

"Oh-..."

"-...My-..."

"GOD!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: *still running* AHHHHHH! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! I NEED HELP!**

**Torchix: Yeah, mental help! XD **

**Me: *running still* OH SHUT UP! WAH! BLAZE IS GONNA GET ME! AHHH!**


	27. Ep 26: Worrying, Dreaming

**Me: WAAAAAAAAAH! THIS IS GETTING MAD NOW! HE WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! I'VE BEEN RUNNING FOR HOURS! HEEEEELP!**

**Alex: I got it, I got it! Blaze, calm down! *running after her starter***

**Me: I so have to thank Legendary Fairy for sending you! WAH! **

**Alex: Blaze! Stop chasing Authoress already! Alright... Poké ball time. **

**Gem: Oh! I need to say something for the running gal. Pokemon2471, remember she mentioned a little plot line involving your character a while back? Near the beginning of this story in a PM? Well, here it gets revealed! =D And... I quote: Whoop for using characters from my new Pokoh story that isn't out yet! XD**

**Warning: May be spoilers for my Pokoh story! **

**Episode 26- Worrying, Dreaming**

"**Last episode we saw the cleaning duty finally begin and found out about the fact lessons are soon the begin! Basically... most of it was a filler chapter."**

Shut up Mr. Voiceover man! GAH!

"Anger issues..." Jaspa said. You too, Mr. Brainiac, shut it. "I don't feel like it." Is it me or have you got more attitude since you and Indigo became better friends?

"It's not you, he has." Indigo said, sitting beside him in the classroom.

"Alright Green Dorm, our first lesson today is on Types!" A teacher said from the front of the class. Jaspa groaned. Thought this would be a piece of cake for ya?

"It will be, that's why I'm groaning." Jaspa replied. Indigo giggled, patting his arm and then looking to the board. What, don't you know about type things?

"I do, but I want to double check so I can correct you when you make mistakes." Indigo said. -_- Oh you are sooo losing your next gym now. "You can't do that because you wouldn't be able to get this 'movie' you keep going on about up in time." Why do you all have to know as much about me as I do you? *sigh*

"Blah, blah, blah..." The teacher went on about stuff everyone already knows for ages at a time... ugh... I'm more bored than you two! And by the looks of it... you guys are very bored.

"Why aren't you at Cleaning duty anyway?" Indigo asked. Meh, I left the people who are supposed to do it to do it. "More like you bribed the teacher." N-No I didn't! *shifty eyes* "Suuure you didn't." Shut up...

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"This... is pure Evil." Auberon said as he tried to clean what he hoped was tomato sauce off one of the surfaces in the kitchen. "And _you, _Authoress, are also pure evil." Thank you. "And strange..." Shut up.

"Gee, moooood swings." Scarlet said as she cleaned a stain she hoped was brown sauce or something similar from the floor. Don't say that, you sound like me when my friend acts all moody swing-y. "Oh I won't say it again if it makes me sound like you!" Gee, thanks. Anyway! How bad is it?

"You know, you saw earlier." Auberon said. Alright, alright, I'll tell the readers then! Well, to put it simply its gross. Not to put it simply there are so many flippin' stains in here I worry about what they are and there are also many, many pieces of old food lying around.

Why is H&S on _my_ back and not this place's, huh?

"Maybe because you're evil, and got Arceus to kill that 'Bob' dude." Auberon suggested. I did _not_ order Arceus to kill him! He did it himself! I am _not_ the boss of god! Sheesh... Auberon shrugged and continued to scrub at the stain. "Are you sure this is tomato sauce?" Sure it is! What else would it be?

"I don't wanna even consider what _this_ could be." Scarlet said, pointing at the stain she was cleaning. "WAH! GET THE DISINFECTANT! I TOUCHED IT!" -.-

_**Blue Dorm Class**_

"I. Am. So. Bored." Star groaned, head collapsing onto her arms.

"You are not alone there, sis." Christian sighed. It can't be that bad, can it? "It can."  
"The teacher is teaching us that Fire is weak to Water, that Water is weak to Fire and that Fire is strong against Grass..." Oh that is bad. This school... ugh. Well, I would let you skip these lessons but I have plot lines to add in and need them time! So, bye-bye! "Don't you dare leave us to this tor-..."

"She's gone, Star." Christian said. Star hit her head of the desk.

"I'm gonna kill her... ow." Later reaction time or what? Star glared at the sky. W-Wah! *runs*

~X~X~X~

_**A few miles away...**_

"Where the hell could she be?" Someone said, the forest was dense so currently the person was unseen behind one of the many walls of foliage. "God dammit, Lucy, you can't be too far from here..."

A girl burst through the trees a second later, her brunette hair was butt long, two short pieces fell at either side of her face, framing the pale features and brown eyes. The rest of her hair was held in a messy ponytail high on her head by a purple bobble.

The outfit is familiar to us all, a black jacket with a purple crystal insignia on the back. Black shorts and heavy, high black boots with purple socks almost as high as the shorts. Team Universal Aura.

The girl seemed to wince as she ran onwards, clutching her sternum at one point, seemingly in great pain. Her eyes flashed yellow every few seconds, her head snapping in all directions as if looking for something.

"Oh c'mon! How hard can it be to find bloody purple aura? Lucy can't have hidden herself that well... she has that fat mouth in the sky following her some places, not easy to hide _that_." Gee, thanks. "Shut it, I am not in the mood!"

A second later the teen found herself on her ass, having bumped headfirst into someone; the other person had stumbled but not fallen.

"You alright, miss?" a familiar blonde boy said, pulling her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take more than a bump like that to keep me down." The girl said, brushing herself down. Miles nodded. "You haven't seen a purple haired girl around here anywhere have you?"

"Purple haired..." It was then Miles noticed her outfit. "Hold on a bloody second! You work for _them_?" The girl blinked a couple of times, looking at the boy and wondering how he knew about TUA, it didn't take her long to recognise the face from the biggest wanted poster in TUA HQ.

"Holy Crap you're Miles Target! Mr. Ricky Target and Mrs. Maya Target... my bloody bosses! They've been after you for ages!" She exclaimed. Miles hissed.

"Don't even call them Target! If they really are the leaders of TUA then... I don't know what to say! I've had a hunch for a while... never wished it to be confirmed though!" Miles said, and a second later the girl found herself dodging an aura sphere. "Name and Rank!"

"Hotaru, Second Rank 3 Commander. The Crystal shoulda given that away!" The girl said, dodging another sphere. "Bloody hell, stop firing! I am _not_ on their side!"

"Says the one in the uniform! If you aren't on their side what are you doing looking for a grunt?" Miles said, firing another sphere that was burst by a larger one a second later.

"Lucy is my friend and partner, thank you very much! She ran, and we're in a hell of a lot of trouble now! She's with one of the biggest targets this century as far as I know!" Hotaru replied, jumping over another sphere and firing her own to defuse another one heading her way. Miles then froze.

"Oh dear god... you better not be saying what I think you're saying." He said.

"Depends if you think I'm saying she's with a Ketchum." Hotaru said, posture easing slightly now the attack had stopped.

"Oh hell no... Hotaru, if you are really on humanities side then you bloody better let me help you find them, because I know Scarlet and her friends, and this cannot end well."

~X~X~X~

"Done, at last!" Scarlet said as she stood up. Auberon wiped his forehead, leaning on one of the now clean work surfaces.

"Good riddance health hazard, welcome clean kitchen! Ugh, I am pooped." Auberon said. Well tough, you have to go to lessons with the others now.

"Can't we ditch lesson? Seriously, you already have Auberon doing extra work later, and I heard they were learning crap anyway! C'mon!" Fine... I admit I did ditch a lesson _once_ so I guess you can too. "YES!"

"You just got one step closer to my good books, Authoress! C'mon, Scarlet, what're we gonna do?" Auberon said.

_**A few minutes later...**_

You guys are as bad as my friends, seriously!

The two are outside one of the classroom windows pulling silly faces at poor Kite and Nevee, not that Nevee has noticed.

"As if my day could get any worse... first I bump my head on a bunk bed, then I get sat next to the girl that keeps trying to eat my bloody biro and now I have _them_ distracting me?" Kite mumbled, Nevee proving his point by chewing on his pen again. "NEVEE!" You think you got it hard? At least _your_ teacher didn't book you in for a 'welfare' appointment for no reason I can think of! "Are you ever going to stop moaning?" Nah, it's in my nature. "I stand corrected, the day can get worse."

"Yes, Mr. Strider, it can. Detention for talking." The teacher said. Kite groaned whilst the two outside laughed. "It isn't a laughing matter, Mr. Strider, make that an hour detention." Kite thwacked his head off the table. Ow man! What was that for? Even _I _don't head-desk that hard!

"I didn't even mean to 'head-desk' that hard... ow..." Kite groaned. *head-desk*

"And voice? Could you please stop distracting the students?" The teacher asked. Oi, dude, I saw the state of your kitchen and I got my bloody H&S officer who won't leave me alone to go look at it before Auberon and Scarlet had cleaned it, and he said it was a major hazard. If you keep annoying me or bossing me around I will let him shut you down! He shut up.

"How bad was the kitchen?" Kite asked.

"SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER bad." Nevee said. What she said... wait! How did you know? "I guessed!" She then started doing the annoying Sims clap. *face-palm, head-desk, head-keyboard* uidbafjdsud. "OI!"

Déjà vu? She's turning into Torchix. And that is _not_ a good thing, people. We cannot deal with another Torchix!

"TORCHIX RULES!" Nevee cheered. Can I go hide now? Please? Before she does turn into Torchix mark 2?

~X~X~X~

_**That night...**_

Hi ya Christian, got the plan sorted?

"Sure have, taught Dusk how to use the move he can't learn thanks to that strange TM you gave me. It's all ready." Christian said. Good, now go wait outside their dorm room until they're asleep. "One problem with this, it makes me feel like a stalker." Just go.

Christian shrugged and walked out the front of the building, running to the green dorms and finding the right room. Indigo had just said goodnight to Jaspa and was going to sleep, whilst Jaspa was being Jaspa and reading a book. Christian sighed, waiting 'patiently' for Jaspa to fall asleep. AKA asking me every five seconds if he was out of it yet. After about a million times asking and about ten twenty minutes Jaspa was finally asleep, along with the rest of the school. Christian was pretty tired himself, but he still released his Murkrow – Dusk – and ordered the attack.

"Nightmare." He whispered. Dusk nodded, flying up to the open window. I don't have a clue what would happen with this attack it's been so long since I saw the Darkrai movie, so down to Christian. Uh, one question. "What?" Do you know what nightmare she'll have? "No, her brain picks a fear and makes the dream based off that." Sh-... Sugar. "Nice save." Shut up.

_**In the nightmare...**_

"_No! Go away, go away!" Indigo yelled, running from a familiar blue haired boy. He grabbed her wrist, turning her around and pushing her hard. Indigo yelped, her back hitting the ground roughly. _

"_Silly little kids." Dax said, walking past her and to a dark corner. Indigo strained up slightly to see what he was doing, seeing him drag a familiar ginger haired boy out from behind the wall. Indigo gasped._

"_JASPA!" She yelled. Dax just snickered, Jaspa trying to break free of his grip on the collar of his red jacket. A second later Indigo saw Jaspa get thrown across the room, hitting a wall. She screamed. _

_But out of nowhere Jaspa was on his feet, eyes the same bright red they had been in the Old Chateau. Before Indigo knew what was happening he had grabbed her half-brother by the neck, throwing him much like the bluenette had him a moment ago. Dax crashed _through_ the wall and – though alive – didn't make an effort to stand. Indigo struggled to a sitting position, looking at Jaspa. He turned to stare at her for a moment, his eyes still bright red. Indigo took only a few seconds to realise what had just happened before she screamed. _

_**Outside the dream...**_

Jaspa awoke to Indigo whimpering, even slightly screaming, in her sleep. Carefully he climbed from his bed, walking over to the girl. He knelt by the side of her bed, shaking her gently. Indigo, much to his shock, leapt up. Her whole upper body was out of the covers, face pale and covered in cold sweat. He put a hand on hers, and she snapped her head around to look at him.

"You... you're a..." She gasped out through tears and whimpers. It didn't take Jaspa longer than a second to realise what her dream had revealed. He pushed himself up onto the edge of her bed, hugging her close as she began to sob.

"I know... I know... d-don't tell anyone, OK? Please? Even Nevee doesn't know..." Jaspa said. Indigo nodded shakily, hugging her friend closer. And then, Jaspa did what I never thought we'd see from them, he kissed her hair. (Somewhere: *does happy dance*)

"T-Thanks... I-I'm OK now..." Indigo said. Jaspa nodded lightly, but didn't let her go. "Y-You can let go..."

"If you want... I'll stay over here tonight. In case you have another nightmare..." He said, and I swear I can see a blush on his cheeks. Indigo blushed too, nodding shyly. Jaspa, being cautious, lay next to her atop the covers as she lay below them. Indigo slowly fell back to sleep. "She knows..." I know, I heard and saw. "How do I explain this?" For a while, you don't. Don't worry, dude. "Don't call me dude." Will do.

~X~X~X~

**Me: *still being chased by Blaze* YES, YES I KNOW I NEED TO GET MORE OC IN FROM THE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN USED YET MUST HOTARU IS NEEDED! SHE IS ONE OF THE FEW OC I HAVE WHO KNOW TUA INSIDE OUT, OK? WAH! ALEX HURRY UP!**

**Alex: He keeps dodging the Poké Ball beam, Authoress!**

**Me: DAMMMMMMITTTT! HELLLLLP!**


	28. Ep 27: School's almost out, Trouble's in

**Me: *still being chased* HOW MANY CHAPTERS HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON NOW? **

**Alex: *stills running after* Three. **

**Me: DAMMIT! HHHHHHEEELLLLPPP MEEE!**

**Legendary Fairy: *runs over with a Pidgeot* Coming!**

**Me: PHEW! THANK THE LORD ARCEUS! THANK YOU LEGENDARY FAIRY!**

**Legendary Fairy: No problem, Torchix. Ready Alex?**

**Alex: Sure as hell am.**

**Episode 27- School's almost out, Trouble's already in.**

"**Last episode we had mostly a filler chapter, again, except for a major plot point or two I am not supposed to mention! Again... when is there going to be something interesting for me to say?"**

"Scarlet agrees." Scarlet said, nodding her head. Since when did you speak in third person? "But seriously, you keep all the good bits from us!" That's the point, plot lines are sometimes needed to be hidden! Now shut it. "Scarlet doesn't want to." Who are you, me? That shut her up.

"Anyway, that day was HILARIOUS!" Auberon laughed. Kite glared at him. "Oh, sorry mate, forgot about that detention we got you." So did I...

"My bad luck hates me, face it." Kite said. "I bet I would have got that detention for something else anyway." Nah, you wouldn't. Your bad luck seems to be even worse when you're around those two. "True."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Scarlet said. That your bad luck can be worse than his! "True..." Now who's being mood swing-y? "Shuddup."

"What now, anyway?" Indigo asked, her tears from the previous night's dreams left no stains on her pale cheeks that are visible. Well, as far as I know this is a free period. So, have fun guys!

"YES! ...but now I don't know what to do..." Auberon said. *head-desk* You guys are worse than me! Go train or something!

"She has a point." Lucy said. Hi Lucy! You didn't make an appearance last episode! "I noticed, and am pretty p'd off." Eep! RUN! ...wait, don't. I'll bump into Blaze otherwise, and that is not a good move. Hmmm... who would I rather face? Lucy, or Blaze? ...how about I just go to Alaska?

"You are so strange, Authoress." Star said. I know, I'm reminded every day. Mainly by you guys.

"I WANNA TRAIN!" Nevee yelled. You heard the girl! Go!

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Miles, do you even have a clue how to find them?" Hotaru asked as she and the blond boy ran through the forest.

"Not really, voice?" Miles replied. I am staying out of this! You have to find them by yourselves. "Damn you." I already am damned... by every character I own. Saying 'Damn you' to me is like saying 'Bless you' to Jesus, don't make a damn difference. "Strange woman..." I know.

"Well, give us a clue! Because I can only sense average auras in this area." Hotaru said. Well, you do know the magic of writing this right? Look up. "...A School... I got it!"

"Where then?" Miles asked.

"There's a Poké School not far from here. We gotta head there, now! We should be able to make it before nightfall." Hotaru replied.

"Right!"

~X~X~X~

Alright guys! It's time to get some of your Pokémon levelled up so next time you have a proper battle they have a chance at evolving! And soon we may just have to send you out to catch a ton, otherwise what happened last season will happen.

"What? Us getting Pokémon randomly gifted to us by our parents and relatives?" Scarlet said. Yep. "Aw man." Hey, you have two Pokémon, you won't have to catch one until _after_ the Celestic contest, but these guys might have to before.

"I have two!" Nevee said. Yeah, but you haven't caught one. Technically you and Jaspa don't need to, but hey, where's the fun in that?

"I hate you more every day." Jaspa said, but I swear I could see a small smile when Bulby jumped onto his head. AW! He cares! It's a miracle. Bulby and Mudkip (who I will refer to as Muddy =) were chatting from their respective trainers' heads.

"They sure get along well." Star said.

"They would! Their trainer's get along, _very, very_ well." Auberon snickered. Indigo and Jaspa both glared at him. "Creepy..." Christian said. Well, he inherited Gemma's death glare, what do you expect? "Indigo's glare is creepy too..." Now _that_ came from practice. "Right..."

"Anyway, people, what're we gonna do? Who's fighting against who?" Lucy asked. Well, I am curious about your Pokémon. "You know them." Only two! "I only have two." Oh. Well, show the others your Pokoh Pokémon! I suppose I can let everyone see _one_ of them. "Alright then, go Wiskabubble!" (Second stage of Pokoh water starter)

A blue creature with a long body popped out. It had six long whiskers and three tails, it's face resembles an otter, and when the light shone on its coat there seemed to be strange bubble patterns.

"Whoa!" Scarlet said. Don't bother with you Poké Dex!

"Why?" Indigo asked as she put hers away again. Because you don't have the Pokoh info in it yet! And it won't until I have it all finished!

"Is that your starter, Lucy?" Scarlet asked. Lucy nodded.

"Started as a Wiskabie, back in Pokoh. That was where I was born and... uh, never mind." Lucy replied. Scarlet nodded, unnoticed by the others, when she realised what the 'and' was.

Now, get training! Who's up first?

"I'll fight." Jaspa said. O.O "What?" That is another miracle, both in one chapter! WHOO!

"Whoop!" Nevee giggled.

They trained all day (lucky them, getting a free day!), and Jaspa got his ass kicked. Poor Bulby... *giggle* Muddy did comfort him though.

~X~X~X~

_**That Night... **_

_**(Yah, I know I skip too much! Oh, the idea in this comes from Eternalhero01; he was the original maker of TUA. I get my info from him a lot of the time.)**_

"Oh c'mon, Scarlet! You can do better than that, surely!" Lucy said as she dodged one of her 'student's' Aura Spheres and firing off her own purple one. Scarlet's arm was grazed by it, but otherwise she was unharmed and fired off a larger sphere. Lucy was knocked onto her knees, skidding back a few feet. "Well done."

"Thanks, I'm tired out now... what next?" Scarlet asked, rubbing her arm.

"Well, unless you're too tired I could try teaching you Aura healing, it only works on yourself unless you're a high ranked commander in TUA, but you should be able to pick it up. Maybe one day you'll get someone who can teach you how to use the healing on others." Lucy shrugged.

"Sure, with how many hits I keep taking I think I need it." Scarlet chuckled. Lucy nodded. The two spent some time thinking and talking about how to do it before Scarlet found she was too tired for that and decided just to carry on with training. Lucy, though, heard something in the trees behind them. Turning around she scanned the trees with her eyes open, seeing a flash of purple. Her eyes widened, thinking the worst for a moment before a familiar girl burst through the layer of trees.

"Hotaru! What the hell are you doing here?" Lucy hissed under her breath, pushing the commander back into the cover of the trees. Scarlet continued to practice without even noticing Lucy walking off.

"They've sent Jenni after Scarlet's Mom!" Hotaru whisper yelled. "But that's not all... I've been running for a bloody month now... T-The only reason I know that is because I checked in... Gah... t-the p...pain..." She stumbled, but pulled herself upright before she was far enough to fall.

"Hotaru... no! H-How long have they noticed your disappearance for?" Lucy asked, holding the girl up.

"After three days of no contact when I first ran... I-It can't be long now..."

"Hotaru! Don't speak like that! All we need... is someone to use Aura Surge!" Hotaru hissed at the ex-grunt.

"It's gone too far, Lucy! Not even an Auracian God could save me now." Hotaru said. "Look for yourself!"

Lucy closed her eyes, aura now letting her see. She looked to Hotaru, a black object made of aura stuck through her, from her sternum inwards. The blue around it was dulling, slowly burning away bit by bit. Lucy snapped her eyes open.

"We have time, Hotaru! But... we need someone stronger than me..."

"What the hell?" Scarlet's voice exclaimed, a second later she burst through the tree. "Who's the person with the black aura in them?"

"My friend and ex-commander, Hotaru." Lucy said. Hotaru suddenly yelped, collapsing onto her knees. "Hotaru!"

"What's wrong with her?" Scarlet asked.

"Team UA... they don't like losing members... so in the ones they really need to keep, they plant the black thing in them so they can track them. But if the person runs, defies them, then it will slowly burn away their aura... killing them slowly and painfully until they rejoin them and the lost aura is restored. Hotaru... she's almost dead." Lucy explained, kneeling by her friend. "The only way to save her is something called Aura Surge, and I'm not strong enough." **(You can't say Eternalhero01 doesn't have imagination! Credit goes to him for that, and a lot of other things.)**

"Could..." Scarlet started.

"No!" Hotaru yelled. "You are too young, too inexperienced. The power would overwhelm you!"

"But I can't let an innocent person die!" Hotaru chuckled dryly.

"I am far from innocent... I have taken people to my boss, I have committed more crimes than I can even count! I am not worthy of life." The commander said.

"Everyone deserves life! I have been training to save my Grandparents for about a week now... I'm picking things up quickly." Scarlet insisted.

"Hotaru is right, Scarlet." Lucy said. "O-Our only chance is.."

"Me." A male voice said from the trees. A moment later Miles walked out.

"Miles! What're you doing here?" Scarlet asked.

"Helped Hotaru find you, I also know that I am experienced enough to use Aura Surge." Miles replied.

"Do it then!" Lucy said, standing back from the dying girl. Miles nodded, eyes glowing blue. "Scarlet, we need to stand back." Scarlet only nodded as Lucy pulled the tired girl back a few feet.

Miles didn't seem to move, but as his eyes grew brighter a large Aura Sphere started to form around Hotaru, it flickered but stayed in place.

After a minute or two, which felt like an hour to all involved, Scarlet and Lucy could see something black appearing from Hotaru. The black aura spike. Mile's teeth gritted as he pushed the spike further and further from Hotaru.

In what had only been five minutes the spike was out of the commander's body completely. Hotaru collapsed, Mile's eyes stopped glowing and the sphere dissolved. Lucy rushed immediately to her friend's side, Scarlet standing stunned. Miles picked up the black object and with the left over energy from Aura Surge he crushed it, shattering it like glass but leaving no wound on his hand.

"Hotaru! You Okay?" Lucy asked, holding the girl as upright as she could. Hotaru's brown eyes flickered open. "Oh thank god you're alive!"

"I... don't feel so good." Hotaru said, passing out shortly after.

"She needs rest." Miles said. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"What about the Poké School?" Scarlet suggested.

~X~X~X~

_**The next morning...**_

Hotaru's eyes opened again, seeing Lucy looking down at her with a relieved smile.

"Lucy... I'm... Alive..." Hotaru said, her voice still weak.

"Yeah, just about. Your Aura is still restoring itself." Lucy replied. "The whole thing – minus Scarlet's aura training – has been explained to her friends."

"Okay... how long do I have to stay in this bed?" Hotaru asked, Lucy's eyes closed.

"Hmmm... a day or two more. Poké School is over in two too, so we'll all be leaving."  
"Have you explained about Scarlet's mom?" Lucy frowned. "Didn't think so."

"As if we could stop Jenni anyway! She is the same level as you and we only have three fully able aura users right now! Besides, Scarlet's secret can't be revealed yet." Lucy said. Hotaru nodded weakly and reluctantly.

~X~X~X~

**Me: HELLLLP! **

**Legendary Fairy: We almost got him!**

**Me: YOU BETTER! HUUUURRRY!**

**Alex: –.– Calm down!**

**Me: HE'S GONNA KILL ME! I CAN'T CALM DOWN! WAH! **


	29. Ep 28: No limitations, no boundaries

**Me: THIS IS MAD! THE 4****th**** CHAPTER OF THIS! WAAAH!**

**Legendary Fairy: We almost got him!**

**Me: YOU SAID THAT HOURS AGO! NOTHING HAS CHANGED! HE'S STILL CHASING ME AND I HAVE NO ENERGY LEFT! **

**Alex: We seriously do, even if it had to involve Pidgeot attacking a couple of times! Plus, he's tiring too!**

**Me: IF HE IS NOT STOPPED BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER I AM GONNA DIIIIIE! LITERALLY! HELLLLLPPP! **

**Legendary Fairy: *sweatdrop* **

**Me: AND BY THE WAY! THIS CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF FLASHBACKS AND INFO IN IT! **

**Episode 28- No limitations, no boundaries**

Jennifer shook her hair loose, ignoring the looks she got from the male grunts and focusing on the job in hand. Find this Ruby Ketchum and take her back to the boss, no limitations, and no boundaries as to what she could do to get this woman to come with them.

And Jennifer Veteran wasn't the kind to give in easily.

She'd been at this job for years now, since she was only Ten years old, and she is now eighteen. Eight years of hard work, practice, promotions and finally reaching third rank. She was sure this mission would bump her up to the next rank as well. Team Universal Aura made a good choice with this girl, she had always been one of those girls who got her own way, who was never stood up to, and had a very dark heart, and aura.

Lucy wasn't the only one with unusual aura, sometimes life would through the odd one or two out of the blue, strange coloured or patterned aura. Different colours meant different things, Black was the least common and the one that Jenni had. Black meant the person had a very dark heart, a shadowed judgement and showed how evil that particular person was depending on how solid the aura looked.

Purple, on the other hand, showed that Lucy was a kind girl. It showed she cared greatly about her friends and family and also found it hard to accept anything bad at all. TUA weren't so smart with her kidnapping, but Lucy is also particularly protective and only continued to work for them so long because they threatened her little brother Jake and her mother.

As I said, no limitations and no boundaries as to what they could do to get them to come.

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Commander Jenni, we have some news. We know her exact location." One male grunt said. Jenni turned around to face him.

"Where?" She demanded.

"Pallet Town, Kanto. We have Psychic types on hand, we can teleport as soon as you give the word." Another said, pushing his way past the previous one. Jenni sighed, clicking her fingers and making them both run off. She couldn't believe she was being made to work with these low ranked idiots, and also couldn't believe _she_ used to be like them. An idiot who messed around with her powers, using them to play pranks on the other grunts. Dark hearted as she was, she had still been a teen.

She remembered how resistant she had been when _she_ was caught.

"_Back off, creeps!" A younger Jennifer yelled, firing one of her black aura spheres off at the pair of men in black and purple, a woman waited in a van nearby from what she could see with her aura. The two took a step nearer her. "I said, back off!" Jenni repeated, pushing two more spheres out at them and forming an aura barrier the next instant. But the men weren't giving up, one of them grabbed Jenni's little sister, covering her mouth and nose. Now, no matter how dark Jenni was at heart she loved her sister a lot. "Leave Asia alone, now!"_

"_Come with us, then." One man said. Jenni gritted her teeth as she watched her young sibling start to stop struggling as air couldn't reach her lungs and brain. _

"_N-No!" She said, resolve wavering. Asia slowly stopped moving altogether, and as she did that her chest was rising and falling less and less. Jennifer's teeth gritted harder, and her resolve dropped. "ALRIGHT!"_

Jenni mentally slapped herself, knowing very well emotion was not needed for her line of work. Asia had died anyway, and to be truthful she never forgave herself for that. But she held it in, never told a soul about how she felt about the young girl who had had her life cruelly taken away from her. She knew she would be thought of as weak from all her fellow commanders, except maybe that Hotaru girl. She always did seem too... _humane_, for the job. Every time the boss wanted a job like a kid done then he would call anyone but Hotaru. Hotaru was not like the other commanders, all the other commanders had hardened with time. Become cold, dark, unbounded by emotions. Not Hotaru. Hotaru was different.

And, as far as Jenni and the rest of the organization knew, Hotaru was dead.

~X~X~X~

Hotaru sighed, still in bed as the rest of them were in lessons, Hotaru had made Lucy go so she didn't get a detention along with Kite. She was alone, she had time to think.

Jenni, she was one of the strongest commanders yet to be promoted to rank 2. Hotaru knew that Ruby didn't stand a chance. She knew how TUA had no limitations and no boundaries. She had been there, she had never let herself be limited or bounded by rules, and she regretted it every day. She regretted how she had taken people to the leaders, Ricky and Maya Target, and she also regretted allowing herself to be captured. **(Attention! This bit is not in my Pokoh story, because I didn't want to put spoilers! She was taken differently here than in the other (that I haven't put up yet ^^;))**

"_MOM!" A younger, probably ten year old, Hotaru yelled. The two men in black threw the now dead body to the ground, the woman had done nothing. "You... you... Bastards!"_

"_Whatever, kiddo. Now, you come with us or you little bro suffers the same fate!" One man said, a woman in the same clothes then walked out of a room holding a young child in her arms. The boy was wailing, crying loudly, seeing his mother only made this louder. _

"_Leave Aoi alone! He has nothing to do with this!" Hotaru hissed, two spheres appearing in her palms. The woman holding Aoi formed a dagger out of aura, pointing it at the toddler. "No! No!"_

"_Come with us then, and we may consider letting him live!" One man said. Hotaru snarled, but the spheres in her palms dissolved and she slumped slightly. "Good girl."_

Aoi had been killed the next day.

Hotaru felt tears prick her eyes, so blinked quickly. Her brown eyes seemed to dull as more tears tried to push themselves out, down her cheeks. But Hotaru wasn't going to give into the tears, she wasn't going to let Lucy worry again, she'd given her enough stress the previous night.

_Damn UA, damn their insistence of keeping members against their will!_ Hotaru thought, fists clenching. She took deep breaths, trying to calm the natural anger and hate she had felt since she 'joined' TUA. _Damn Ricky and Maya! Damn everything! UGH!_

"Hotaru?" Miles said, poking his head around the door. Hotaru turned, seeing the boy and trying to put on her best fake smile. "You aren't happy, I can read your aura." Hotaru sighed.

"I know... memories. Not a good thing to think about in my case..." Hotaru replied. Miles sat on one of the other beds, looking to the ex-commander.

"They won't be after you for a while now, not until you actually try and stop this Jenni person. They'll think you're dead." Miles said. "You're safe."

"I don't care about me... I care about Lucy, if they find out she's helped me then she's in even deeper trouble than she must be already... grunt or not she is still running, and they don't like that. At all." Hotaru said.

"I know, I may have never been involved with them but as my hunch about my parents came I started to research about them, finding retired/kicked out members and things like that. And the fact they went after me twice sealed it, I knew it was them, but I still don't wanna believe it." Miles said. Hotaru nodded. "What did they do to get you to join? You don't seem the type to give in easily." At this Hotaru winced. "That bad?"

"They killed my mother and threatened my three year old brother and then killed him the day after I 'joined'." Hotaru said, gritting her teeth roughly. "They don't have boundaries... if they want someone, then they'll get them by any means possible... even if it involves taking away memories, a sense, anything. They won't give up until they get them, and if all else fails... they will kill them. It's like they think that if they can't have them then they can't live... it makes me sick."

"They want a pure Auracian Race, a world of only Auracian people. No muddied auras, no weak auras... only descendants of pure blood Auracians. How they'll kill everyone else I don't even want to think about..." Miles said.

"You really did do your research, Miles." Hotaru said. "Yes, you're right. They will only allow pure blooded Auracians... normally. But the world throws rare exceptions, people who aren't related in any way to Auracian blood lines get strong Aura, I'm one of those people. Lucy's mother was killed because of her resistance... many others suffered the same fate... it's not right. Not at all."

"I know it isn't... I've heard about many evil organizations, from petty thieves like Team Rocket to Team Galactic creating a new world... but nothing compares to what these people do."

"You know... I'm surprised the Ketchum's weren't a target from an earlier stage... Ash Ketchum is a descendant of Sir Aaron! He's got possibly one of the strongest auras of all time! Sir Aaron, before the Sacrifice that killed him had a child... and so on and so on, always pure blooded, but not forced love. Back then Auracians were drawn to each other naturally. And as time went on, more and more generations past, the bloodline stayed fresh, its only recently the Ketchums have started to reproduce with non-Auracians, starting with Delia Ketchum, but Ash's aura stayed strong... the normal muddying point is four generations... the Ketchums will take longer than that." Hotaru explained. Miles nodded again, laying back. "I'm worried for them... Scarlet, though strong already, is no match for any commander, or even some high rank grunts! And she is the only one in this group who can do this, the only one who can use it."

"She knows others, two others at least." The blonde boy said. "Though one can't use it. And there is her family."

"Who we can't afford to endanger."

"Right." Miles nodded. "...Hotaru?"

"Yes?"

"What sort of things did _you_ have to do?" Hotaru flinched, looking down.

"_Kid, get in the damn car, now!" Hotaru yelled at a ten year old boy, he was defending himself with aura spheres, trying to fend off the commander.  
"No! I'll never come with you! Ever!" He yelled._

"_You don't have a choice, look Kiddo, I don't want to have to hurt you! But I will if I have to! Now get in the damn car and I will make sure my bosses don't kill your damn friend here!" Hotaru said, gesturing to a girl that was currently knocked out behind him. "Kid, please! I don't like this any more than you!"_

"_Then why?"_

"_I don't want to die, kid! Now get in!" Hotaru shouted. "I'll force you if I have to!"_

"_No! No! I am not going to go with you! I am not going to join that damn... thing!" the boy replied. "No!"_

"_Kid, if you don't come without me forcing you I can't guarantee they won't kill the girl! She is nothing to them! Nothing! I don't like to think they'll kill an innocent! Please, for her sake and your own!"_

"_...What will they do to Chrissie?" The boy asked, spheres dissolving slowly. _

"_They... will kill her... murder her... I would know, they killed my family!" Hotaru said. The boy's hands dropped to his sides, and he collapsed to his knees. Hotaru sighed in half relief, half regret. She pulled the boy to his feet and pushed him into the car, a grunt was driving but hadn't heard the exchange. Hotaru then turned to the girl, eyes glowing blue and creating a special and invisible seal to hide her from TUA. "She's safe, don't worry."_

She didn't say this aloud, the memory was of her last capture before she ran. Before she damned herself to that damn 'cursed mark'.

"Things... regrettable things. Things I wish I had never done." Hotaru said sharply. Miles waved his hands defensively.

"No need to snap at me, I only asked." He said. Hotaru just closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

~X~X~X~

"We're ready, I understand?" Jenni said, walking over to the grunts. They all nodded. "Good, we depart in ten minutes. Be prepared, the Ketchums are the ultimate Auracians."

"Yes Commander Veteran!" One grunt said.

"We will be prepared, Jennifer!" Another said. Jennifer nodded and walked back to sit against a tree, her bangs casting a dark shadow over her eyes. The ten minutes went quickly, each grunt scurrying around doing last minute preparations. When the time was up Jenni stood, walking over again and putting her hand on the shoulder of an Alakazam as all the grunts gathered around several other psychic types, all ready to teleport them to the right location.

Jenni had to admit, she was surprised those idiots Quincey and Rin had managed to get Ash Ketchum. They were grunts, high ranked sure, but grunts. And total imbeciles to boot, she never understood how they managed with so little problems. Of course, she knew _she_ wouldn't be having issues, she never failed. She had yet to even slip up _once_. Jennifer was confident, maybe a bit too confident. But she had one thing that kept her on track, thinking the same thing over and over.

No limitations, no boundaries.

~X~X~X~

**Me: WAH! WAH! HELP!**

**Legendary Fairy: Almost... Aerial Ace again, Pidgeot!**

**Alex: We got him! **

**Blaze: *stops running, tired after dodging many attacks and just from running* **

**Alex: Return! *points Poké ball and returns him***

**Legendary Fairy: At last! **

**Me: Now I can speak! Thanks you two. Not as many flashbacks as I thought... but a lot of information. A lot of it is thanks to EternalHero01! He told me a lot of the information in this chapter, and I made a couple of things up myself... I think. I can't even remember! I don't know, but almost all the credit goes to EternalHero01! He's been a great help throughout this story. :) I'm glad to have loyal readers like him, Legendary Fairy, pokemon2471 and others. Thanks everyone! I wouldn't have made it this far without you!**


	30. Ep 29: Time to move it

**Me: Seriously, I'm gonna sound so weird but last Friday I completed three quarters of the PMD2/3 storyline in game, in less than twenty four hours, and then completed Dialga that Saturday... and the day after that the Graduation... and now I'm at that Shaymin thing... hehe... **

**Episode 29- Time to Move it**

"**Last chapter has nothing to comment on... well! Now school is finishing our heroes are soon to set back on the road, which means for now we say goodbye to three of them."**

"Well, we'll see you some other time then." Star said. "We gotta head backwards, since Christian only has the last three badges, we need to go through the others."

"And I gotta head on to Hearthome; I'm going the looong way to Veilstone. I might bump into Nathen, Kate and Crystal." Kite said.

"We're off towards Veilstone, passing through Celestic for Scarlet's contest of course." Indigo said. "So, we'll see you all another day! Or chapter... or episode or whatever." Gee, get ya facts straight. "Why didn't you talk to whoever you were following last chapter?" And how do you know I didn't?

"We can tell. Its quiet when you're not focused on us but even quieter when you don't speak to the people you _are_ focused on." Scarlet said. You guys are as strange as me. And my welfare councillor said I'm pretty strange. "Shut up." Will do.

"What's gotten into you? You never shut up when we tell you." Auberon said. Blame the welfare councillor... they are trying to change who I am! It's not fair. "Right..."

"Anyway, people, off we go on our separate roads! Again." Scarlet said.

"BYE!" Nevee yelled happily... too happily. I do admit I missed Nevee's antics in my short time of not writing about her.

"Well, we didn't." Christian said. You guys wouldn't, you have to be with her when she is like this. I just get to watch! It's a lot more fun.

"You're evil... wait, where's Hotaru and Lucy? Aren't they coming with us?" Scarlet said.

"They're just grabbing the last of their stuff and talking to Miles about something or other." Jaspa replied. And you know how? "I saw them on my way out."

"Is Miles coming then?" Auberon said. No, that's probably why they're talking to him, duh brain. "Shut up."

**Theme: **_**Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"So, Miles is going to keep his eye on TUA, see if they're any closer to finding that I'm alive or where Lucy is whilst Lucy and I are keeping our eyes on Scarlet and keeping up her training?" Hotaru said.

"Right, and we keep in contact through my PokéCell and his PokéNav." Lucy said, gesturing to a cell phone like thing on her belt. Her outfit was no longer all purple as it had been when she arrived with the group, instead she wore a blue jacket and a black t-shirt, jeans too. Hotaru had changed too, wearing a pair of loose tracky bottoms and a black vest top. Her hair had been thrown in a very messy ponytail with an elastic band for lack of a better thing.

"And... if we find that one of the Ketchums has been caught, then we spring into action right away." Hotaru added. "Whilst we're with Scarlet and Co. we'll see if we bump into these other two Aura users, they'll be of help to us in future."

"I'll do the best I can." Miles said. "If even one person has a suspicion of Hotaru being alive, then I'll call." The three nodded at each other. "And remember, no telling Scarlet."  
"Right." Both girls said. You better get going, they're locking the school up soon and the others are almost ready to leave without you.

"Alright then, let's move people." Hotaru said.

~X~X~X~

"What took you so long?" Scarlet asked.

"We just had a few things to clear up." Lucy said. Scarlet nodded.

"Like what?" Jaspa asked. Stop being nosey! "No." Ugh... I am fed up of you already, and I haven't even been following you again for a chapter! I need to get my writing back on track, your time stops are getting longer between each update. I feel like I'm letting my readers down... *sigh*

"Gee, emo..." Auberon said. I know! Sheesh... "O...K..."

"Have you gotten weirder during these 'Time Stops'?" Indigo asked. Ask my welfare officer, not me. Anyway, the others have left because you, um... seven have been here too long, go! Get to Celestic! Two of you have a contest to enter!

"Wait... two?" Scarlet said.

"That would be me." Lucy said, stepping forward shyly. "I've been in one of your contests already actually..." **(I couldn't help but lol at this, a contest or two back I had a qualifier called LUCY! I didn't even realise that when I named this OC, but it completely fits her! :D)**

"I can't remember who won that." Auberon said. That's because you guys didn't stick around long enough to find out once Scarlet was knocked out of it by... Grrr... Dax. Jaspa's muscles seemed to tense that little bit more and Indigo shuddered... not that anyone but I noticed...

"God, your hate for Dax is beginning to get annoying." Scarlet said. Oh my lord, even _Nevee_ noticed something off about him! Why is everyone else so oblivious? "You are being stereotypical, judging him on his bloodline!" I AM NOT! "Whoa that was loud..."

"Yeah, I think Pokoh heard you!" Hotaru said. Pokoh is all the way north of Kanto! We're in Sinnoh! "I know." Man, more OC that hate me.

"I don't, yet." Lucy said. Reassuring. Now, go people go!

~X~X~X~

"Peter?" Ruby said, walking downstairs. "Peter, where are you? This isn't funny; you know I've been jumpy since what happened to my parents."

"He's not trying to be funny." A female voice said, Ruby spun around, scanning the room with open eyes before closing them, seeing a strange black aura figure standing only a few feet away from her.

"Who are you and where is Peter?" Ruby yelled, after a strange vibration of the air Jennifer Veteran appeared, black Aura Sphere hovering above her palm. "Team Universal Aura, I should have known."

"I see you've been kept up to date." Jenni said, taking a step closer, Ruby took one back.

"Where is Peter!" Ruby repeated. Jenni clicked her fingers and two grunts brought out a gagged but struggling Peter. "Peter!"

"Mommy, what's happening?" Roi's voice asked, he and his twin scurried down the stairs soon after. Ruby gritted her teeth as she saw Jenni smirk.

"Children, even more useful than your husband." She said. Roi and Rori looked confused.

"Mommy? What's the lady talking 'bout?" Rori asked. Ruby snarled at Jenni as she took a step closer again.

"Stay back kids." Ruby said to them. "This has _nothing_ to do with them!" She added, looking back to Jenni.

"I think it does, we know about all of your family's past, who they descend from, and that those two kids will also be as strong as you are one day, so it has _everything_ to do with them. But... we won't hesitate to harm them, or you, if you don't cooperate." Jennifer said. Peter struggled more, and before Ruby could react the two grunts knocked him out.

"PETER!" Ruby yelped. Rori and Roi screamed, hiding behind the sofa. But a moment later the two were floating, blue light much like Psychic around them.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Roi screamed.

"Leave. Them. ALONE!" Ruby shouted, firing off two large Aura Spheres. Jenni dodged easily, throwing an aura dagger that barely missed Ruby.

"As I said, I won't hesitate to harm you, or the children, and especially not your husband." Jenni said, nodding to the grunts. One made another dagger from aura and pointed it at Peter's head. Ruby's snarl grew louder, before her hands dropped to her sides in defeat. "Smart."

"Shut up." Ruby said.

"Get them all tied and bound, and knock the kids unconscious with some gas or something." Jenni ordered. Ruby growled. "Shut up yourself, Ketchum."

~X~X~X~

"Here we are! Celestic Town." Scarlet said. "It is probably the quietest town we've gone to so far." It probably won't be quiet for long with you here.

"And that is supposed to mean what?" Auberon said.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Hotaru asked. These guys have worse luck than... hmm, five Kites put together, everything bad happens to them. Thing is, whilst Kite's bad luck is all hilarious, these guys... not so much. Their luck tends to be bad in a bad sense most of the time, there are a lot of funny stuff too though, so be prepared to see some embarrassing things.

"Bad things only happen because of you!" Indigo said. No they don't! They happen by themselves, seriously, some of this I did not plan, at all!

"Sure you didn't." Scarlet said.

"What bad things?" Nevee asked obliviously. Never mind, Nevee, you are way too absent-minded to notice. Suddenly Jaspa shuddered. What?

"I'll tell you later..." He muttered. Indigo frowned, patting his arm lightly. "You too, Indigo."

"Don't we get to know?" Scarlet said. Lucy smacked her lightly around the back of the head. Thank you, Lucy!

"No problem, I think I know what's going on." Lucy said. I am really fed up with Aura people already! You know almost everything about someone because of sensing aura. It's annoying. "Shut up." Will do.

~X~X~X~

**Me: I am so sorry for cutting this short here! But I really want to get a chapter up, and the purpose of this chapter is in there, and... ugh, I'm blabbing on. ^^;**


	31. Ep 30: Bad news, it never stops

**Me: Man, why do I have to be so busy? I'm moving up a year in school soon, I finished the year Wednesday! Thing is, I still had loads of tests, loads of revision, loads of homework I still hadn't done and I was basically rushed off my feet! So, I'm tired out. Plus I have three holidays this year, one starting next Saturday (a week in Bournemouth) and then after a week break one in Menorca. And then another later on... dunno the date of that though. Ugh, basically I'm gonna have a lot of weeks with no updates soon. Which sucks... *sigh* Ah well, it'll be worth it for a little SUN! I'm fed up of British weather.**

**Episode 30- Bad News, it never stops**

"**Last chapter... nothing of consequence I am allowed to mention happened! This sucks. Anyway, now we find out what the heck was up with Jaspa."**

"You're giving him exact scripts to say now, aren't you?" Indigo said. How can you tell? "He never says 'what the heck'." True... Anyway, Jaspa, explain!

"Alright, Indigo already figured what's wrong with me and Nevee, I'll explain all that later though. But something has happened, and I know it."

"How do you know, though?" Indigo asked.

"You know what's happening, and you also know what... gifts, they end up with. Since Nevee and I haven't actually turned into one yet, our gifts are weak... but one of my two is being able to know when something bad has happened. Though only when linked to friends and family." Ah, I think I know where this is going... "Don't let anyone here watch TV today, not anyone. We don't want to chance them seeing the news."

"Why? What's happened?" Indigo asked. Alright, don't scream but... Ruby, has been kidnapped. "WHAT?" SHHH! Don't tell a soul! We can't have them panicking, okay! "O-Okay..." Good... dammit this sucks. Look, I can't tell you anymore, but please, don't tell anyone! Only I can, because I know who can know. Now, both of you, head back to the others and book a room. You've been walking a while... you need to rest.

"She's right, come on Indi." Jaspa said. Indigo smiled at him.

_**Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
**__**Comin' at you we're number one!  
**__**We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
**__**Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
**__**Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
**__**Never gonna let you fall!  
**__**Third generation of Pokémon,  
**__**Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Where were you?" Scarlet asked as Indigo and Jaspa re-entered the lobby.

"We were talking, about things." Jaspa said. "And you can't know." Yeah!

"Alright, sheesh, we weren't gonna ask." Lucy said. You may not have, but Auberon would have. Auberon scratched the back of his head nervously. See! Anyway, get a room everyone! You need rest.

"Alright, we already booked a couple of rooms. Auberon and Jaspa in one, Indigo and I in another, Lucy and Hotaru in one and Nevee is on her own, with the door locked, and with sleeping pills in her water." Scarlet said. *sweatdrop* "Look, it's either that or a straightjacket."

"Sleeping pills." Everyone said. Yeah, she'd be even more crazy in a straightjacket than out of one. Alright then, remember, you still need to be up in time to register Scarlet and Lucy for the contest.

"We know, we know. C'mon humans!" Auberon said, walking off toward his and Jaspa's room. Jaspa seemed to hesitate for a moment before following. Indigo gave me a look and then went with Scarlet to their room. Just as Lucy and Hotaru were about to walk away Gem dropped into the screen.

"You two, I need to talk to you." She said.

"Alright, Authoress, I think I know what's happened." Hotaru said. "Let's go to our room, still. Scarlet is gonna lock Nevee in."

"Okay, let's go."

~X~X~X~

"Ruby's been captured, right?" Lucy said, laying on her bed. Gem nodded, pacing around the room. "Are you really that short?"

"This is not the time to piss me off, Lucy!" Gem snapped. Lucy backed off a little. "Look, Ruby and the whole of her damn family have been taken! Every Ketchum is on TUA's target list, and most of them are out on their own, with no warning of when they will attack! My warning about TUA to them was so long ago now that they probably forgot it!"

"There is no need to take it out on us, Authoress!" Hotaru yelled. "We quit, we're helping! We're risking our own lives for this damn family!"

"No, for the damn world! If they get the Ketchums, they can get anyone!" Gem said. "Look, we can't tell anyone in the group about Ruby, at least not until after the contest. Scarlet needs this damn ribbon, and we need to keep her Aura a secret from as many people we can for as long as we can."

"As if we didn't know that!" Hotaru yelled. Gem hissed at her.

"Do you _want_ me to punch you?" Gem said. "Because I will, if you don't shut up! Look, all I know about TUA is what one of my contacts does, and you two aren't exactly helping! I'm going back up now, try and figure out a way to keep Scarlet and the others away from the TVs, alright?"

And with that she disappeared.

"Do we have to take orders from her? It feels like I'm a grunt again." Hotaru sighed. Yes! Hotaru jumped. "Forgot about that..." In five seconds? Sheesh... anyway, please, this is helping to bring down TUA, after all. "Fine."

"Thanks." Lucy said. "Scarlet shouldn't have to go through what we did."

"I know..."

~X~X~X~

"Oh hey, Scarlet, right?" A familiar girl said. Scarlet turned around, looking at the girl who was standing next to her in her wait for the Water Fountain.

"Uh, yeah... Alice was it?" Scarlet said. Alice smiled, nodding.

"You were at that contest, with Auberon, weren't you?" she said, and Scarlet then nodded. "I'm sorry that you lost."  
"Don't worry about it, I find it easier to blame Authoress than myself." Scarlet said with a shrug. Oi!

"Oh! That's what that voice is, you're in a story?" Alice said. Scarlet nodded.

"Sure are, annoying as it is. We won't get rid of her until we have kids." The raven headed girl said. You may not for a while then, I dunno if I wanna go onto the next gen straight away after this. You guys are too fun to write about! "G-reat." Alice giggled. "So, I'm guessing you're entering the contest?"

"Yes, I am. I already have two ribbons, so this will be my third." Alice said. "How many do you have?" Scarlet frowned.

"None..."

"Oh."

"Blame Authoress, we haven't been to a contest for episodes and episodes, and both of my first ones I lost." Scarlet sighed. "Big Mouth is evil." I didn't make you lose the, I am no longer allowed to fix the contests. Alright? "Whatever, Authoress."

It was then Scarlet's turn at the water fountain, so she quickly drank some water and then ran back to her and Indigo's room. She didn't have anything against Alice, no, it was just the way she seemed to disappear when Auberon spoke to her.

"You're strangely quiet today, Indigo." Scarlet said as she lay down on her bed and pulled out Artemis Fowl again. Indigo shrugged and continued doodling. "You still have talent."

"And you still have more than me." Indigo said, smiling at Scarlet. Scarlet shook her head with a laugh and looked back down at her page. Which one you on now? "The third one." Okay.

"Hm... what to draw..." Indigo pondered aloud. Um... Jaspa? "Shut up." Just a thought! Sheesh, you guys take your hate for me way too seriously. Alright, I'm gonna go check on the boys now, don't do anything stupid.

"Alright, whatever." Scarlet said.

I so shoulda seen what happened next...

~X~X~X~

So boys, what's up?

"You, duh. That and the ceiling." Auberon said, "And when can we do some training? Turtwig hasn't evolved yet, actually, none of ours have evolved yet! And we're on episode thirty!" Alright, tomorrow you can train and the episode after you can look for some Pokémon. "Good."

"You put so many plot lines in this you forget about the journey, don't you?" Jaspa said. No... *shifty eyes* "Stop lying." No!

Auberon sighed and turned onto his front. "I'm going ta sleep."

"Authoress! I am going to kill you!" Scarlet's voice then came, she burst into the room with Indigo not far behind her. Indigo looked more scared than angry though. "You didn't tell me about mom?" Indigo...!

"I didn't mean to, she grabbed the TV remote before I could notice and found the news whilst looking through the channels!" Indigo said.

"What about Ruby?" Auberon asked, sitting up immediately. She kinda got captured... along with Peter, Roi and Rori...

"I can't believe you didn't tell me, my family!" Scarlet yelled. Look, I didn't want to worry you, alright?

"Can you two stop arguing?" Jaspa said, "Look, Scarlet, she had reason not to tell you. And you're showing the reason right now."

"Fine..." Scarlet said. "But..." Look, I've talked to the other two girls, they're figuring out what to do. Now, all of you, _sleep!_

~X~X~X~

"AH!" Scarlet yelped, torso shooting out of bed. Indigo groaned and yawned, sitting up and looking at her friend.

"Are you alright, Scarlet?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. Scarlet just nodded, laying back down.

"I just had a nightmare... about what happened to mom, dad, sis and bro." Scarlet said. "But... I guess they'll be fine, we'll save them..."

"I hope so." Indigo agreed, also laying back down. "It won't be easy though, you know that."  
"I know." Scarlet said. "It'll probably be the hardest thing we'll ever do..."  
"Other than getting rid of Big Mouth." Indigo joked. Scarlet giggled. "Go on, get some sleep pal. You've got the contest in the afternoon, and you need this ribbon."

"I know, I'll be training all morning too. Maybe I can level Asher and Buneary up a little before the contest." Scarlet said. Indigo just nodded now, too sleepy to form a proper response. "Night, Indigo."  
"Night Scarlet." Indigo yawned before falling back to sleep.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Again, cut off short! I hate doin' this, making them shorter than I aim for... but, this is starting to give me problems, luckily next chapter is the contest (never thought I'd hear myself say **_**that**_**) and contests have a planned out thing, all I have to come up with really is a minor plot line and a couple of appeals! My brain has been killed by tests and assessments, luckily no more school! :D**


	32. Ep 31: Do my eyes trick me? A contest!

**Me: SORRY FOR THE WAIT! SO SORRY! And it's only now I realise I don't have a clue what to do for the contest! D= I hate my brain... And I'm back from my holidays! The Bournemouth one wasn't as bad as I expected, I avoided Walter for the first few days, then bumped (literally) into him... we rekindled our friendship, but we decided to break it off. No more dating him, which means in Poké Academy (if it ever gets updated again) I'll have to work out a way to do that... damn.**

**Episode 31- Do my eyes trick me? A contest? At last!**

**"Now after tons of chapters of plot... onto the contest! Scarlet, Lucy and Alice are all entering, and who knows maybe even more Coordinators we've met before! I haven't been told everything..."**

"You never are, voiceover man." Scarlet said, wearing her knee length red dress that had straps holding it up, and a ribbon tied around it under the chest. "I am fed up of that description!" I know, that's why I put it!

Lucy beside her laughed, she hadn't bothered to choose an outfit for this contest, seeing as she was only entering for fun this time around. Destiny should have done the same thing... then again I did force her to wear her dress, and I don't wanna end up dead trying to force Lucy to wear one.

"Yeah, you really don't. Even in training she can hurt ya pretty bad." Scarlet said, rubbing her arm slightly in mock pain. Lucy chuckled.

"At least Hotaru isn't your battle training partner, she doesn't hold back." Lucy said. "That's why she only trains you in focus." Scarlet nodded.

"Hey you two." A quiet voice said, they turned and saw Alice. "Who's this?"

"I'm Lucy." Lucy said, before she went into one of her shy moods. Lucy, seriously? Lucy glared at the sky.

"I'm Alice, nice to meet you." Alice smiled. "Oh, looks like Lucy's up!" Already? Um, okay then, go on Lucy. And no using Wiskabubble!

"Fine, fine." Lucy said before running off.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
_****_ Comin' at you we're number one!  
_****_ We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
_****_ Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
_****_ Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
_****_ Never gonna let you fall!  
_****_ Third generation of Pokémon,  
_****_ Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Go, Piplup!" Lucy called as she ran on, throwing her Poké ball. The blue penguin popped out surrounded by bubbles, she popped them all with her beak and then landed on her head. "Alright, use Bubble!"

Piplup did so, and the bubbles quickly scattered. But before they became a total mess Piplup used Ice Beam and froze them all, making them drop to the ground and smash into sparkles.

"Now use Whirlpool and then Ice Beam again!" Lucy said.

Piplup made the Whirlpool, throwing it into the air and then firing another Ice Beam after it and freezing it in mid air, and as it began falling she used Peck and it smashed around her.

"A beautiful performance!"

"Remark-... I mean amazing!" Phew...

"All of my comments have been taken; I say the same as them!" *sweatdrop*

~X~X~X~

**(Now is a good time to note everything after the Theme was written more than a week (and at one point more than three weeks) after the bit before)**

"Where the hell have you been? !" Scarlet exclaimed. I've been on holiday, thank you very much! Don't moan at me! I thought you hated me? "Getting frozen in one position for over a week is _not_ fun!" Ah. I forgot about that. "Exactly."

"Stop moaning at her." Lucy said as she ran back in. Phew! You don't wanna kill me? "No. If you were on holiday... well, I'll just blame your parents." Um... thanks, I think...

"You guys are a little strange." Alice giggled. Oh, we know that. This is them on a sane day... though, when you meet Nevee you will forget the meaning of sane.

"Ignore Authoress, she ignored us." Scarlet said, folding her arms and looking at the sky with a glare. You are never gonna let that drop are you? *sigh*

"Why hello, I didn't expect you to be at another contest so soon." They heard a male voice say. Oh you have got to be joking... Turning they all saw a familiar blue haired boy walking toward them, wearing a tux and with his bloodline's trademark Roserade by his side. "I am still terribly sorry about what almost happened to Asher."

"I'm over it. Not sure Asher is though." Scarlet said, patting her Poké Ball as she felt it shake. "He's alive, that's all that matters. And I didn't expect you'd be at a contest so soon after a win."

Dax shrugged slightly. "If I can win the Ribbons I need faster, then I'll have more time to train for the Grand Festival."

"I ain't even won one." Scarlet sighed.

"I have two, Lucy I'm guessing has one, how many do you have?" Alice said, still sounding a little shy.

"I have two now." Dax said. "This will be my third."

"You're not gonna win this time around!" Scarlet said confidently. Asher's Poké Ball shook more. "I'm gonna get my first ribbon this time, and nothing is going to stop me!" Not even TR? "Definitely... wait, you're not putting them back in this chapter are you?" *innocent whistle* "I hate you."

"I heard about your mother, by the way." Dax said. *face palm* IDIOT!

Scarlet's face fell from her determined look, eyes going dull. "Oh... yeah, thanks for your concern..." She said, sitting down. Dax. You just succeeded in making me hate you _even more_.

"I'm sorry." Dax said. "I didn't mean to upset you, Scarlet."

"Don't worry about it..." Scarlet said. "I blame Authoress, she's the one who writes this crap." Oi! Shut it! I did _not_ plan this to happen!

"**Next up, Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!**" These guys have the worst timing on earth! Alrighty Scarlet, go on.

Reluctantly Scarlet stood up, brushed her dress flat of any wrinkles and the walking out with her hand on Asher's Poké Ball. Oh boy... she needs to get through, but like that she won't...

~X~X~X~

Putting on a brave face Scarlet ran out, throwing Asher's Poké Ball and praying for better luck this time around with her appeal. He wasn't all that helpful last time she used him, but after the morning's training she was confident he'd pull this off.

"Alright Asher, come out and let's do this!" Scarlet called. Her Charmander starter popped out, flame on its tail larger than usual, on purpose I'm guessing. I really don't know what she's doing this time. "Alright, use Ember!"

Asher did so, but spun at the same time. The Embers spun with him, forming a circle of embers. Um, Scarlet, hate to interrupt you but you did that before.

"Shut it, I've got a different ending planned." Scarlet hissed. "And where were you, **_again_**?" Holiday, abroad this time. Sorry. "You are so annoying... anyway, Asher! You know what to do!"

Asher nodded at her, then spinning even faster but with his tail out. The embers caught in his tail flame, it beginning to burn brighter and brighter, the flame soon triple the size it had been when he appeared. HOLY MACARONI!

"What the hell, really Authoress?" Scarlet said, giving the sky a strange look. *shrug* I hit my head off the pool wall on holiday, I think I've become even crazier than normal.

Asher's appeal continued, the flame was so big now I think I might actually faint from the damn heat of it! But then, with a burst, the flame went down to its normal size. The embers that burst off it and fell to the ground.

"A great performance!"

"Very well done."

"Beautiful."

"Thanks." Scarlet said with a small smile, returning Asher with no issues. She then ran off the stage, smile falling again as she did so.

~X~X~X~

Hey Indigo, where you off to?

Indigo didn't look up as she ran down a corridor, but still answered. "To see Scarlet, she didn't look very happy on stage." Ah, you can blame your brother for that. Indigo winced, despite the fact his name wasn't mentioned. He mentioned Ruby... "I... can't believe him... he d-did that on p-purpose..." I gathered that. Sh!t! "What?" You might want to go back... like now.

"Ah. Indigo." A voice said. Indigo's eyes widened, her face paling.

"D-Dax." She breathed shakily. Dax walked far enough down the corridor toward her to be seen, smirking slightly.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon." He said. Indigo didn't bother backing away, if she ran he'd just hurt her more the next chance he got. "Aren't you going to give your brother a hello?"

Indigo only stood shaking as Dax hugged her, seeming genuine at first before he dug his nails into her back and sides. Focusing the pressure on where he knew there were bruises. Indigo's eyes welled with tears, the salty water running down her cheeks quickly in uneven streams, shaken by sobs. Dax let her go, but as he went to head back to the lobby he kicked her legs from under her and she collapsed to the floor, crying out in pain. Dax walked off, not even looking back.

Indigo...? She didn't respond. I... I'm gonna get Jaspa...

"No need." Jaspa's voice said, a moment later he ran in and knelt down by Indigo, arm over her shoulders as she began crying into his chest. "Hey... shh..."

I forgot about your gifts for a moment... I'll leave you two be...

Poor Indigo... there has to be a way to stop this...

~X~X~X~

"GOD DAMMIT!" Dax yelled, punching the tiled wall of the male toilets. His hand stung for a moment, but he ignored it and punched the wall again and again. "What the hell is wrong with me? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

_No._ A dark, familiar male voice said. Dax screamed, punching the wall once more and then banging his head against it. _That won't work_.

"SHUT UP! DAMN YOU!" Dax snarled. "I don't want to hurt her! Bad Blood or not, it's **_you_** who is making me do this! Even my dad's family wouldn't sink to this low! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I don't want to hurt Indi anymore!"

_I know you don't, and that only makes this all the more fun. I may not be able to get revenge on the brat's grandkid directly but this is good enough for me._

"NO! I. Won't. Hurt. Her."

_But you will, because I am in control and you don't have a choice. You should know that by now._ And then the voice faded out of his head, and Dax turned his back to the wall, sliding down it and sitting on the floor.

"If anyone can hear me, Authoress... the first few times, that was purely my bad blood and hurt taking over... but then I went to Route Six as a field trip with school... I found a strange stone Poké Ball... and this happened... I don't mean what I do to Indigo... please, hear me out..."

I just can't do that, Dax.

~X~X~X~

**Me: I personally like this chapter, I hated writing the attack on Indigo, but I did like the moment between her and Jas...pa. And, well... c'mon, I couldn't let Dax be at complete fault! I started feeling sorry for him after I wrote Black and Indigo. But... he's not going to be heard out or helped for a while. And, who guessed who the evil male voice is? It should be totally obvious.**


	33. Ep 32: Who wins? No one this chapter!

**Me: Back again, I'm hoping to get back on track now. Thing is, I have another three day holiday from Tomorrow... so, yeah. Too many holidays. D:/:D lol.**

**Episode 32- Who wins? No one, not this chapter!**

**"Last Time: Scarlet and Lucy both appealed, Scarlet yelled at Authoress, and some other stuff I can't mention happened! This time the last of the appeals and the battles! Who will win? I don't know, but Authoress does!"**

"C'mon! Tell us!" Auberon said. Begging will get you nowhere, you have to wait and see. "Damn you." I've told you people before, saying 'Damn You' to me is like saying 'Bless You' to Jesus, it don't make a damn difference!

"You are so weird." Hotaru said. I know.

"Where have Indigo and Jaspa gone?" Auberon asked. No idea. "Probably off snogging somewhere, hehe." The elf like boy snickered. Auberon! "What?"

"Shut up, Elf. I'll bloody make you shut up otherwise." Hotaru said. Auberon gulped.

"ALICE!" Nevee suddenly exclaimed. Everyone stared at her for a moment, then following her excited pointing at the stage. Alice had indeed just ran on, holding a Poké Ball and smiling.

"It is her! Whoa, we ain't seen her in a while." Auberon said. Hotaru closed her eyes for a second, but then opened them. "Go Alice!" Shut up. "I cheered on Scarlet too, ya know." Okay, don't shut up then. (Yeah, you can tell I'm biased in this can't ya?)

"Go Bella!" Alice called, throwing her Poké Ball.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
_****_Comin' at you we're number one!  
_****_We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
_****_Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
_****_Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
_****_Never gonna let you fall!  
_****_Third generation of Pokémon,  
_****_Comin' at you we're number one!_**

The Poké Ball burst open and out popped a Buneary... wait, Buneary? Aw man! Scarlet's last appeal was with her Buneary! Now I gotta think of a unique one? G-reat...

Bella hit away whatever seal that was used with her ears, landing on one hand and then flipping to stand on her feet. Alice then pulled a Frisbee from seemingly nowhere, throwing it into the air.

"Jump Kick!" Alice then ordered. Bella jumped up, to the level of the Frisbee, and then kicked it. It broke into pieces, and Bella landed back on her feet. "Now use bounce! Break those pieces before they hit the floor!"

The Buneary jumped up, hitting each piece of the Frisbee with Bounce, breaking them again. The pieces were now so broken they were unable to be seen, the pieces really were that small. Bella jumped backward, doing a small back flip and landing in a cute pose.

"An amazing performance."

"Very well done."

"Very good."

~X~X~X~

"Awesome performance!" Lucy said when Alice ran back in. Yay! Her shy mood has gone!

"Thanks Lucy." Alice thanked, sitting down next to Scarlet.

"It was good, better than mine." The red-eyed girl said. Alice patted the girl's back.

"Yours was great, Scarlet!" Alice assured. "You'll get through no problem!"

"And then I'll be beat by you, Dax or Lucy." Scarlet said, resting her forehead on her palms, her elbows on her knees. Oh c'mon, Scarlet! You're worse than me! Seriously, I'm supposed to be the one with low self-esteem, not you! "Shut up, Authoress. Your family didn't get kidnapped by an evil organization." Point taken.

Now, Dax's performance is up soon, and I don't want to write it. So... I'm going to see where Indigo's got to, see you guys.

"What? Indigo? What about her?" Scarlet asked, but Authoress was already gone. "Strange... she never just leaves."

"She must be pretty worried about Indigo." Lucy said.

"I guess... she has been a lot more worried about Indigo, and Jaspa, recently. She's even begun worrying about carefree Nevee." Scarlet said. "Then again, we all worry about Nevee."

"Why?" Alice asked. "Nevee hasn't got a care in the world."

"I know... but, after I was beaten by Dax... she went really weird. She was super angry, her eyes... they were red. It was freaky." Lucy seemed to gulp a little after hearing this, but Scarlet and Alice dismissed it.

~X~X~X~

Indigo and Jaspa were no longer in that corridor they had been earlier, they were sitting outside on a bench, Indigo's head rested on his shoulder, his hand over one of hers.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get there sooner." Jaspa murmured. Indigo hit his chest once, now noticing it seemed harder than normal, she sighed at this realisation before speaking.

"It wasn't your fault. As you said, you're gifts are still weak... besides, I've had worse." She replied. Jaspa noticed her sigh after she hit him, putting an arm around her. Indigo also observed it felt colder than normal, too.

"Sorry..." Jaspa said as he felt her shiver. "I can't control it..."

"I know, I understand. It's just all so... sudden. Just as I get to know the real you I find out this, it's a lot to take in."

Okay guys, I don't wanna interrupt ya moment... but, the others are wondering where you've gone, and they're accusing you of snogging, so go back now. Sorry.

"It S'okay... ya know, Authoress, we see a side of you no one in the group does, don't we?" Indigo said as she took her head off Jaspa's shoulder. I guess you do, yeah... I feel so sorry for both of you. Jaspa, well, becoming what he's becoming will not be nice, I don't know how it'll work exactly but it can't be pleasant... and Indigo, the way Dax treats you scares me... I'm worried as hell about you two. God, I like you two more than the others sometimes. "Thanks, Gem." Indigo said with a small laugh. Ya welcome Indigo.

~X~X~X~

Dax walked back into the lobby after his performance, the girls were all sitting talking. He walked to stand by them, watching the screen.

"Girls, they're deciding the ones who go through." He informed them. They all turned to see the board, watching as the cars shuffled and some left the screen, showing whoever was on the picture side of that card was out. Soon only eight were left, and they stopped moving, beginning to flip over one by one.

**Dax Sketchit **

**Lucy Montez **

**Alice Shadow**

**Jack Jones**

**Nathan Nate**

**Becky Hart**

**Scarlet Stone-Ketchum**

**Hannah Hart**

"Yes! We're all through!" Lucy said. Scarlet put on the best smile she could muster, nodding. "C'mon, ya mom'll want you to be happy! You know we're going to save her." Lucy added, but only so Scarlet could hear. Scarlet nodded again.

"I came in third? I didn't expect that." Alice said. "But Dax in first I did." Why? "You didn't see his performance, it was great." Sure it was. *groan* God, why does he have to be a good coordinator? It just makes people like him more! D=

"**And now for the match ups!**" Lillian announced. Everyone's attention, lost or continuing, went back to the screen.

**Dax-Lucy **(HOLY CRAP!)

**Alice-Jack**

**Scarlet-Becky**

**Hannah-Nathan**

HOLY CRAP!

"You just said that." Lucy said with a sweatdrop. HOLY MACARONI! Lucy face palmed. GOOD GRAVY! "SHUT UP!" *gulps* Will do.

"It looks like we have an interesting match on our hands." Dax said. Lucy, you better kick his butt! Or, his balls like Alex did his dad. Scarlet couldn't help but chuckle at that. I wished she kicked them harder. *glares at Dax*

"Now that is going a little too far." Scarlet said. "Sure, what happened to Aunt Pearl was horrible, but you can't just wish someone was never born like that!" I damn well can. "Go away." Will do, because Lucy and Dax have gotta fight! Damn.

Lucy looked at Dax. "You are going to be beaten this time, Sketchit."

"We'll see about that, Lucy." Dax said.

~X~X~X~

"**This is a battle between Lucy Montez and Dax Sketchit! Five minutes on the clock... let's get busy!**" Lillian yelled.

"Go Piplup!" Lucy called, throwing her Poké Ball. Piplup came out surrounded by the same bubbles as before, popping them with her beak again.

"Prinplup." Dax said simply. His Poké Ball opened and the evolution of Piplup appeared, looking at Piplup smugly. Piplup jumped a little at the sight of its second stage.

"Don't let that worry you, Pip! You're strong enough! C'mon, let's do this!" Lucy said to her Pokémon. Piplup nodded, looking back at her opponent, looking a lot more confident.

"**Begin!**"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Yeah, shorter chapter and mini-cliff-hanger because of said holiday. *sigh* Well, here we go! Lucy v Dax, this should be interesting! Especially for me to write with what I have planned... hehe.**


	34. Ep 33: Aura vs Evil?

**Me: Say 'I' if you were confused as to who to cheer for after last chapter... I! XD Seriously, I know who has to win, but I don't know who to cheer for because we now know what's up with Dax! Oh my god, I am crazy!  
On another note... I'm an idiot. A TOTAL IDIOT. I made all the kids birthdays in July, when I started this story in April. And now, I have no idea what to do because I was planning on putting the birthdays in this time... I guess luckily my iffy Timeline is iffy... if not... well, I'd be stuffed...**

**Episode 33- Aura vs. Evil?**

"**Last time: Alice appealed, Dax appealed though we didn't see it, and we found out that Lucy and Dax are paired up for the battle round! This will be one interesting fight."**

"_**This is a battle between Lucy Montez and Dax Sketchit! Five minutes on the clock... let's get busy!**__" Lillian yelled._

"_Go Piplup!" Lucy called, throwing her Poké Ball. Piplup came out surrounded by the same bubbles as before, popping them with her beak again._

"_Prinplup." Dax said simply. His Poké Ball opened and the evolution of Piplup appeared, looking at Piplup smugly. Piplup jumped a little at the sight of its second stage._

"_Don't let that worry you, Pip! You're strong enough! C'mon, let's do this!" Lucy said to her Pokémon. Piplup nodded, looking back at her opponent, looking a lot more confident._

"_**Begin!**__"_

"I do not appreciate being called evil." Dax said from his side of the field. Deal with it. "Alright Prinplup, start with Metal Claw!"

"Pip, dodge!" Lucy ordered. Piplup nodded and then jumped up, spinning in mid air to avoid the attack. Prinplup's attack faded out, and he turned to glare at its pre-evolved form. Piplup had used peck at the last minute, landing on its beak. Whoa, that was clever; peck makes the beak stronger, now it can do that! "No duh, Authoress."

A small section of Dax's points dropped. Awesome!

"Bubblebeam and then Ice Beam!" Dax called. Prinplup did so, the Bubblebeam firing toward Piplup, and the Ice Beam freezing the bubbles. They still hit Piplup, making a small section of Lucy's points also go down. Piplup wasn't hit much, though.

_**Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
**__**Comin' at you we're number one!  
**__**We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
**__**Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
**__**Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
**__**Never gonna let you fall!  
**__**Third generation of Pokémon,  
**__**Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Alright Pip, use Blizzard!" Lucy ordered. Seriously guys! Where do you get your TM's? "Um... we kinda steal them from your big store cupboard-...!" YOU WHAT?-! "Hehe... Scarlet gave me the Blizzard one! I never go in there myself!" *grumbles something inaudible*

The attack didn't make direct contact, the snow instead just surrounding Prinplup, getting closer in. Points on Dax's side dropped a little, and again. Then Blizzard did make contact, and though not doing any major damage another minute section of Dax's points went down.

"Prinplup, Whirlpool!" Dax ordered. Prinplup readied the attack, and suddenly disappeared into the Whirlpool! What. The. Heck?

The Whirlpool was still heading in Piplup's direction, when suddenly there was a silver glow from inside it. Lucy's eyes widened when she realised what was going on.

"Pip, brace yourself here comes a Metal Claw-Whirlpool combo attack!" Lucy called. Piplup nodded but was then hit by said combination, knocking it back and making a chunk of Lucy's points drop. "Pip! Are you alright?-!"

Piplup didn't get up, and it looked like the Judges were about to go for the Buzzers to show she was out, when suddenly Piplup _did_ get up. And it was glowing a bright white.

"Whoa!" Lucy gasped. "Pip... you're...!"

The light faded away, and suddenly standing in front of Lucy was a Prinplup! Oh, crap.

Zoom out and its then you realise there's two Prinplup on the field.

This battle just got a whole lot more interesting.

~X~X~X~

"I can't believe Piplup evolved at last!" Hotaru said.

"I can't believe Lucy told Authoress about the TMs!" Scarlet said. Hotaru fell down anime style.

"Trust a Ketchum to think of something totally unimportant to what's just happened..." She groaned. Scarlet just shrugged at her, making Auberon pull her cap over her eyes.

"Hey!"

"What're you doing up here anyway? Shouldn't you be down in the coordinators' lobby?" Jaspa asked.

"I have this battle and the next one until it's my turn, I couldn't be bothered to stay down there." Scarlet said. Jaspa just gave her a strange look before turning back to a conversation with Indigo. No one dares to question, tease or interrupt them to their face; they might end up dead otherwise-... AUBERON!

Jaspa's head snapped around to look at Auberon in an instant, seeing the very freaky kiss-faces he was making at the pair, and in the next instant Auberon had been knocked back into the person behind them.

"Whoa." Scarlet said. "Since when was Jaspa that strong?" Heh... "I'm going back to the lobby! Jaspa's scary!" Good idea.

~X~X~X~

"**Looks like we have a very confusing situation on our hands, everyone! As the battle continues, how do we know which Prinplup is which?**" Good question... There aren't even any gender differences to help! This is the hardest battle I will have written in a while!

"Alright, Pip you go with-... Pip?" Lucy started before she saw one Prinplup charging up a Metal Claw. The Prinplup nodded at the mention of her nickname for her, and then leapt at the other Prinplup.

Dax's Prinplup charged up its own Metal Claw, and both attacks clashed in the middle, creating a few sparks that quickly disappeared. Neither side's points dropped from this move.

"Whirlpool and Bubblebeam, Pip!" Lucy called. One Prinplup nodded, forming a Whirlpool attack and then throwing it, firing Bubblebeam at it shortly afterwards. The Bubbles spun around the Whirlpool as it headed for the other Prinplup, making more points on Dax's side drop. But the other Prinplup seemed to have an idea.

It used Ice Beam, freezing the combination before it made contact. The Whirlpool stayed hovering for a millisecond before the Prinplup used Metal Claw again, smashing the ice and creating a beautiful effect. Lucy's points dropped.

Yep... hardest battle I've written in a while.

~X~X~X~

"It's the only battle you've written in a long while, dofus!" Scarlet said, now seated in the lobby watching the match. You know, it's only actually been two minutes of the match. No kidding. "How the hell?" I have two words for you: Dodgy Timeline. The anime does exactly the same, you think it's been the full five minutes and it hasn't. I'm sure Contest battles have filled whole episodes before.

"She isn't lying." Alice said, gesturing to her watch. Yep, two minutes had passed, look at the board if you don't believe her watch.

Scarlet did so, and sure enough the timer now read 2:51.

"Who'd you think is going to win?" Alice asked. Scarlet shrugged.

"The points are pretty even right now. It could go either way." She replied.

"Do you have any idea which Prinplup is which?"

"Not a clue."

"Great, that's a big help..."

~X~X~X~

"Pip, we gotta knock this guy out, even if we can't get the points down enough! Put all the power you can into your moves!" Lucy called. But this time, both Prinplup's nodded. Obviously Dax is trying to confuse Lucy now. "Peck!"

"You too, Prinplup!" Dax ordered. This match is just getting more confusing by the second isn't it everyone?

Both Prinplup's used Peck, the beaks clashing in the middle much like the Metal Claws had. Both Penguins fell back from the impact, but both were also up in a millisecond, glaring at each other.

"Whirlpool!"

"You too!"

"**This is becoming more a Trainer Battle than a Co-ordinator battle, folks!**" Yep... she's right about that... "**And the narrator needs to shut up and get on with the battle!**" That too... oh!

The Whirlpools clashed, water spraying everywhere. There was no way around the two attacks, both Prinplup were stranded on either side of the field.

"Use Peck again!" Lucy called. This time Dax didn't mimic, he was sure that Lucy was making a stupid mistake; there wasn't a chance Pip could get to his Prinplup because of the still whirling Whirlpool attacks.

So you can imagine how shocked he was when Pip's attack powered _through_ the first Whirlpool, making it break into water droplets around her, and then did the same with the second one. The Peck attack was still charged, and Dax knew that even if he ordered an attack his Prinplup wouldn't be able to charge it in time now. So, the Peck attack from Pip hit the other Prinplup.

And as if that wasn't bad enough for him, the points on his side also dropped by quite a chunk from the move.

"Good one, Pip! Now, Metal Claw!" Lucy said.

"Peck!"

The attacks clashed, though the copying had now ceased. Neither Prinplup was giving up, both attacks were pushing against each other but neither was breaking through.

"Use your other wing, Pip!" Lucy called, realising that whilst Prinplup was unable to do anything from its current position, Pip had a free wing. She charged another Metal Claw, hitting the other Prinplup with it before it could move out of the way. "Well done! Now, Ice Beam!"

"Bubblebeam!" Dax ordered. The attacks collided, and the Bubbles were frozen. Lucy's points dropped at this, Dax having used her attack to his own advantage. Dax now had about a 1/4 of his points remaining, whilst Lucy had just a bit more than that. There was now only one minute left on the clock, this is going to be a close one!

"Blizzard!"

"Whirlpool!"

The Whirlpool froze again, Blizzard still swirling around it as both Pokémon tried to get it to go to the other side with Bubblebeam. It was being pushed back and forth, time was ticking, the clock reached the thirty second mark, both Pokémon powered their attacks more to try and force the Whirlpool to hit the opposition.

30, 29, 28, 27, 26...

Neither Bubblebeam was shifting the Whirlpool far enough to hit the other Prinplup.

20, 19, 18, 17, 16...

Still nothing was happening. Our heroes in the bleachers (yes, even Jaspa) had stood up.

10, 9, 8...

Nothing.

5, 4, 3, 2... 1! ***BIP***

"**Time is **_**up**_**! And looks like this is a very close match, folks! It's impossible to tell who's won just by looking at the board! Bare with us a moment, and we'll tell you the results ASAP!**"

"Oh great..." Lucy grumbled. Pip and Prinplup had let the Whirlpool fall and smash the second the timer ran out, and both Penguin's had run back to their trainers. "You 'kay Pip?"

"Prinplup, Prin, plup!" Pip replied. Lucy chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes shall I?" Pip nodded, making Lucy laugh again. On the other side of the field no words were being exchanged between Prinplup and his trainer. Dax was just watching the judges as they looked over the scores and match replays deciding who had won. Lucy glared at him, then closing her eyes to look at his aura. She opened them again immediately, and looked a little scared.

"**Sorry for the wait, folks! But the result is in! And there's only **_**two**__**points**_** in it! And... the winner is... LUCY MONTEZ!**"  
"AWESOME!" Lucy cheered, jumping up and then doing a 'kerching'. Well done on knocking Dax out of the contest! Now we just gotta see if Scarlet can manage to win! "She will." Let's hope so.

"Well done, Ms. Montez." Dax said, having walked over to her. "I wish you luck in the rest of the competition."

"Thank you, Sketchit."

"But next time we battle, you won't be so lucky." Dax then said, sounding slightly more sinister, but no one except Lucy and I noticed that, naturally.

"I doubt there will be a next time, but if there is then I guess we'll find out then." Lucy said. Dax just walked off, returning Prinplup as he went. Lucy stuck her tongue out at his back childishly, then shuddered. Aura? "I'll explain later, there's something up with him." Yeah, I know...

~X~X~X~

**Me: I am SO SORRY about the wait for this! Battles and me aren't a good match, as we all know by now. Though I have to say, this battle was probably one of my better ones, it managed to span a whole chapter without me killing it and getting sloppy! I think... tell me how the battle was, please! Now, next chapter we will not see the two unimportant battle between Alice and whoever it was and Scarlet and whoever it was, we will see which of them gets knocked out of the competition first! And I haven't decided that! So... yeah. R&R!**


	35. EP 34: One goes down!

**Me: You guys are awesome! Really, all of you guys are! Thanks for all the reviews, I now have more on this story than I did on RJC! And RJC had more chapters! You guys are really awesome! =D Now, sorry for the wait but I've started school again so chapters will get even less. That and I still hate battles. XD**

**Episode 34- One goes down!**

**"Last chapter we saw the, apparently, only decent battle Authoress has ever written! Lucy defeated Dax, and moves onto the semi-finals! Both Scarlet and Alice also have defeated their opponents, and now it's time to find out who is against who!"**

"I am as nervous as hell." Scarlet said. Why?

"Yeah, why Scarlet? You're gonna do great." Lucy said, sitting up from her position laying down on one of the lobby's benches. Scarlet sighed, her shoulder's slumping.

"I'm not on top form today, I only won my battle because that girl was a total twit and kept hitting her own Pokémon with its own attacks. I was way behind on points." The red eyed girl sighed. She put her head in her hands. Alice put a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You're a good coordinator for a beginner, Scar'." Alice assured. Scarlet shrugged her hand off.

"Don't call me Scar, I don't like that nickname." She said. Alice frowned slightly.

"Sorry Scarlet. I just don't know what else to call you for a nickname." Alice said apologetically. "You won't want to be called Vamp-..."

"How do you know that nickname?-!" Scarlet exclaimed, standing up. Alice jumped a little.

"Auberon just mentioned it once when we were talking at the last contest..." She said quietly. "I'm sorry..."

Scarlet huffed and sat back down, cursing at Auberon under her breath. _Auberon is the only one who ever calls me that anymore... why would he tell her that nickname? _

"**And the matches are in!**" Lillian announced. Everyone's attention was drawn back to the screen, the match up's revealed. Now, we all know at two of these guys will have to fight each other, but who?

"Aw s-..." SCARLET MELODY STONE-KETCHUM! "Sugar!" I'll let that slide for now...

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
_****_ Comin' at you we're number one!  
_****_ We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
_****_ Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
_****_ Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
_****_ Never gonna let you fall!  
_****_ Third generation of Pokémon,  
_****_ Comin' at you we're number one!_**

**[Battle 2] Alice Shadow-Hannah Hart**

**[Battle 1] Scarlet Stone-Ketchum-Lucy Montez**

"I am so out of this contest now!" Scarlet groaned, hitting her forehead against her fists over and over. Lucy put a friendly arm over her shoulder.

"C'mon, Scarlet! You'll do great! Even if it is me!" She assured. Scarlet slumped more.

"I won't! You beat _Dax_ who I _lost to_ last time I battled him! There's no way in the Pokémon World I'll ever beat you!" The black haired girl said, hitting her forehead harder off her fists. Lucy sighed.

"Look, you'll do fine! Do I have to get Auberon down here to convince you?" The ex-grunt threatened. Scarlet groaned.

"No. I'll battle. I just won't win." Scarlet said. Lucy smacked Scarlet around the back of the head, hand lightly glowing blue. Scarlet winced, more from the Aura than the smack itself, and sighed again. "Whatever, Lu..."

"**Lucy Montez and Scarlet Ketchum to the stage PLEASE!**" A voice boomed from the speakers in the Lobby. Scarlet rubbed her ears and then stood up.

"Let's just get this over with." Scarlet said. Oh don't be such a worrywart! You'll do fine! And remember, I know all. "Whatever, Big-Mouth." Hey! God, you try and help and you get called names... story of my life!

"You get stranger by the second." Alice giggled. I know. "Does she always say that?"  
"Yes." Scarlet and Lucy said in unison.

"**SCARLET AND LUCY TO THE STAGE! _PLEASE_!**" The voice boomed again. Oh c'mon! It's only been one minute! Well, you heard the voice, go on.

~X~X~X~

"**And here is our first Semi-Final battle! Lucy Montez vs. Scarlet Stone-Ketchum! Five minutes on the clock... now... let's... get... BUSY!**"

"Asher, get out here!" Scarlet called, knowing her Buneary was too tired from the previous battle to fight. Asher wasn't the ideal choice for fighting up against someone she knew to only have water types, but he was all she had. "Yeah, about that..." Yeah, yeah, I know! I'll work on it!

"Pip, spotlight!" Lucy said, throwing her Poké Ball.

Asher appeared surrounded by stars, Pip surrounded by bubbles. Asher used Ember on the stars, making them glow a beautiful fiery orange-red colour. (Yeah, I totally stole that idea off 'Cruisin' for a Losin'' from Pokémon Advanced Challenge... it was on TV over here yesterday for some reason XD). Pip used her beak to pop the bubbles, and then both Pokémon landed on their feet, looking at each other. Asher stuck his tongue out teasingly, making Pip growl quietly.

"Use Iron Tail, Asher!" Scarlet ordered. Let me guess... stolen from me? "Yup." I hate you. "The feeling is mutual."

Asher's tail began to glow as he charged the attack, and as if it were a cue Pip began charging a Peck attack. Both attacks finished at exactly the same time, and both Pokémon leapt up to use them. They clashed.

"Why do people always forget about Pip's wings?" Lucy said. Pip knew this cue, and promptly charged a Metal Claw.

"Get out of the way, Asher!"

Asher did a (surprisingly) graceful back flip to get out of the way off the attack, and though not commanded to using Ember at the same time, creating an effect that took away a small section of Lucy's points. Pip's attack faded away when it missed, and the Penguin landed on its feet on the floor. Asher used a claw to gesture for Pip to 'Bring it on' and one of those vein things (yes, I still don't know the name of them...) appeared on Pip's temple. Scarlet sweatdropped at Asher.

"Just use Smokescreen, Asher." She said. She doesn't seem as enthusiastic as normal still... Smoke filled the stage, Scarlet covering her mouth with a handkerchief. Where did that come from...? "You don't want to know." *shudders*

Lucy and Pip began to cough because of the smoke; this move was also not all that attractive so Scarlet did lose a small amount of points, but what came next made up for that loss. "Iron Tail."

A silver glow appeared in the smoke, creating a slightly creepy but also beautiful effect. Lucy's points dropped a bit.

~X~X~X~

"There's something up with Scarlet..." Auberon said as he watched the battle. "She's being really... I dunno... unenthusiastic."

"Dax was a prat." Hotaru said. "He mentioned Ruby."

"And how do you... oh right, stupid Aura." Auberon mumbled. Hotaru sighed at him. "So... basically she's thinking way too much about her mother's disappearance."

"Yeah, to put it simply." Jaspa said, randomly joining the conversation. The next instant Auberon was out of his seat, hands on the barrier in front of them.

"SCARLET! YOU FOCUS, PAL! YOU WIN THIS BATTLE AND SHOW YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH TO HELP _SAVE_ YOUR MOM!" He yelled.

~X~X~X~

"SCARLET! YOU FOCUS, PAL! YOU WIN THIS BATTLE AND SHOW YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH TO HELP _SAVE_ YOUR MOM!"

"Huh?" Scarlet said, looking away from the field and to the stands. She saw Auberon looking at her, and felt her cheeks go red realising he was the one who yelled.

"C'MON! YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Scarlet suddenly looked a lot more determined, she nodded to Auberon and then turned back to the stage with a smirk.

"There isn't any chance I'm losing this now." She said. Lucy smirked back, giggling quietly.

_Yep... thanks Auberon, this battle might finally get a little more interesting._ She thought.

"Flamethrower!" Scarlet ordered. Out of the Smoke the fire type attack appeared, heading toward the water type penguin. Lucy was confused by this order, but what happened next quickly made her realise its true purpose. Whilst everyone was distracted by the bad choice of attack, Asher had jumped out of the smoke and charged an Iron tail, slamming it down on Pip's head.

"Clever." Lucy commented. "You're very good for a beginner, pal."

"I learnt a lot from my mom about battling." Scarlet replied. "Now, Asher, Iron Tail again!"

Asher's tail began to glow, preparing the attack once again when suddenly the rest of his body also began to glow a bright white. Everyone's eyes widened, realising what was going on.

"Asher! You're... you're evolving!" Scarlet exclaimed. And before anyone in the stands says anything, YOUR POKÉMON WILL EVOLVE SOON! 'KAY?

"Whoa... so didn't see that coming..." Lucy said, purposely looking at me. Alright, I get it! I can do plots, I just can't do battles, Evolutions or captures! Sheesh...

Asher's form grew, shaping into the form of his new evolution, the glow getting brighter before it disappeared and the newly evolved Chameleon was in front of them. Asher grinned at the Prinplup, then pulling a face.

"Yep... he may have evolved, but he's still Asher." Scarlet said with a sweatdrop. Asher shrugged randomly and then began charging another attack and, _atlast_, it's a different one!

"That's Dragon Rage!" Lucy exclaimed.

The purple shock wave was heading right for Pip, and without time to react the Penguin was hit. More points on Lucy's side dropped, and the timer was now down to 1:02 minutes left.

"Flamethrower!"

"Bubblebeam!"

Attacks began to rally back and forth, points dropped quickly on both sides, the battle beginning to turn into a Gym Battle more than a contest one. Neither side was taking big enough hits to make much of a difference, but it was obvious that both were getting tired from the constant attacks.

"**Annnnd time is UP!**" Lillian announced. Asher and Pip stood panting on opposite sides of the field, Scarlet and Lucy both with fist clenched as they slowly turned to face the board to know who had won. "**And the winner is... Scarlet!**"

The board changed to display Scarlet's picture and Asher's old Charmander photo with winner written underneath. Scarlet jumped up into the air cheering, Asher running over and tackling her. Man... if this is what they react like winning the Semi-Final match... can you imagine what it'll be like if they win the finals?

Lucy smiled, returning Pip with a thank you and waving to Scarlet. Scarlet grinned back at her from the floor where Asher had tackled her to, waving too.

~X~X~X~

A while later, after Alice and whoever it was battled, the contest judges and Lillian announced that the next day would hold the final round, and I'm gonna be evil and not say if Alice won or not! MWAHAHA-...!

"Shut up, Authoress." Scarlet said, walking out of the girl's Pokémon centre room in her PJs. Where ya going? "Water fountain." Okay.

"Hey, great battle out there today." A male voice said. Scarlet smiled toward the voice as Auberon walked into view.

"Only because you cheered me on, Auberon." The red eyed girl replied. "If you hadn't have yelled, I wouldn't have managed. Auberon chuckled, pulling the hem of his too-small PJ top to cover his stomach as it rode up.

"You would have managed. Its great Asher evolved, hopefully now Authoress will remember to evolve the rest of our Pokémon, and let us catch some." The elf-like boy replied. Scarlet grinned and nodded. "Good luck in advance for tomorrow."

"Thanks. You better be cheering me on again." She replied. Auberon winked at her, making her laugh a little. "Well, I better get my drink and head back to the room before the girls think I've been kidnapped."

"Alright, I'm just heading back to Jaspa and I's room, see you in the morning." Auberon said. He began to walk past her, when suddenly he tripped over, and landed... right on Scarlet.

Both of them tumbled back to the floor, Auberon now laying on top of her, face to face and looking straight into her red optics. Scarlet's cheeks were now as red as her PJs, looking into Auberon's mismatched eyes.

After a long pause, Auberon broke the awkward silence. "S-sorry." He muttered, pushing himself off the young coordinator. Scarlet stood up after him.

"D-Don't worry 'bout it." She said. Both red faced trainers then quickly ran off to their destination.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Yay for an Eyeshipping moment! (Yeah, I named Auberon/Scarlet Eyeshipping) How was the battle? Personally I don't think it was as good as Dax vs. Lucy. Well, R&R!**


	36. Ep 35: A ribbon at last?

**Me: Time for the final battle of this contest, and then I can finally get back to plot! **

**Auberon: *coughs***

**Me: *sighs* And Evolving Pokémon, and catching them, fine, fine. Sheesh Auberon! You got your moment with Scarlet, stop bugging me!**

**Auberon: *blushes* Sh-Shut up!**

**Me: Anyway... ignoring the weird elfy kid, sorry about the two week (at least) delay! School is catching up with me, and I still hate battles as always... so, yeah... sorry guys!**

**Episode 35- A ribbon at last?**

**"Last chapter, we saw Lucy and Scarlet battle, and Scarlet winning after some encouragement from Auberon! Now it's onto the finals of the contest!"**

"Scarlet, stop biting your nails!"

"I can't help it! I've never got this far in a contest before! I'm nervous as hell!" Scarlet replied. Alice sighed a little at the girl.

"You'll do fine! I'm not as strong as Lucy, and you beat her! You'll probably beat me!" Alice said. (*cough* No duh *cough*) "I heard that!" Hehe... please don't kill me! Oh wait; you're not one of the characters who are likely to go on a murderous rampage, phew. "You must meet some evil people." Alice said to Scarlet.

"Not evil, just crazy... insane... Etc... Etc..."

"Right... you guys scare me sometimes, really." Alice said. Don't worry, they scare me too, and I made them!

"Shuddup authoress." Scarlet said, Asher nodding in agreement with her. Fine, fine, you gotta go on soon anyway.

Scarlet promptly began to bite her nails again. *sigh* I don't know whether to kill you or give you Nevee's meds! I think they make any 'sane' person insane, and any insane person sane! "And how would being insane help me?" You'd be less nervous.

"You are as weird as ever." Alice commented. I know. "I wish you'd stop saying that." I know.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"I am officially torn on who to root for." Auberon said, leaning back in his chair and promptly falling back into the people behind them... again.

Psst! Jaspa, you don't keep making him do that do you? "No." Okay then.

Auberon clambered back to his seat and peered over the side again, waiting for the girls to run on. Yeah, he is torn about this people, and we all know why! *winks*

Auberon's cheeks went red and he shot a glare at me. Hotaru giggled to herself knowingly, whilst Nevee just sat there being, well, Nevee! She's completely oblivious as usual. All she's gone on about since Scarlet and Lucy's battle has been Asher's evolution.

"Asher's the cuuuuutest Chameleon I've ever seen!" See?

"Actually," Jaspa started, glaring at me, "she had shut up about it a moment ago." Oh... heh... oops? "I hate you." I know, I know. **_Heh, actually he and Indi probably hate me the least... other than Nevee..._**

"They're coming on!" Auberon the yelled.

"**And here are our finalists! Alice Shadow from Olivine City, and Scarlet Stone-Ketchum from Pallet Town!**" Lillian announced. And ya know? Its only now I realised I'm using Hoenn/Kanto's MC for Sinnoh. *sweatdrops*

Scarlet and Alice ran on, both holding a Poké Ball.

"_Go, Asher! You're up once more!_" Scarlet called.

"_Bella, you're turn again!_" Okay, I know this isn't possible... but I swear she chose a Buneary on purpose because of how Asher likes Bunny. (Yeah... Scarlet let Nevee nickname her Buneary...)

"Yay! Bunny Rabbit!" Nevee cheered, finally shutting up about Asher. *sweatdrops* She likes the 'Animalia' cards Ruby mentioned in like, the first RJC chapter ever.

"This should be interesting." Jaspa said, leaning back in his chair. Indigo's arm was squished a bit by this, since she had her arms latched around his, normally this wouldn't be an issue though, but Indigo flinched. Jaspa gave her a silent apology. The hardness of his newer skin and his weight must mean it hurts more...

~X~X~X~

"It's not Bunny, Asher! You can fight her!" Scarlet said. Alice sweatdropped at the name, and so did Asher. He still calls her Buneary, by the way. "I don't like the weird nickname any more than you, but Nevee will kill me if I don't call her it! She's descended from ex-vampires, she might suck my blood!" You... you're just joking aren't you? "Of course." Phew... "You're weird." She added, looking at the sky.

"Bella, you ready?" Alice asked. The Buneary nodded.

"Asher, you ready?" Scarlet repeated. Asher nodded too.

"**Let's, get, BUSY!**" Lillian called.

"Swift!"

"Flamethrower!" I don't think I need to tell you who called which. The Flamethrower was ordered a few seconds after the swift, and at first it had seemed Scarlet was going to order a different attack.

Much like in her earlier battle against Lucy, the flames coated the Swift and caused a glow to emanate from them. But this time is was a stronger fire move, so the effect was stronger too, some of Alice's points already dropping.

"**What a beautiful use of her opponent's attack!**" Lillian-who-really-should-be-Marian said. "Can you not put that please? I am glad I'm not stuck in Kanto and Hoenn, it's a nice change!" Alright, alright, sheesh-kebab! "What... the... hell?" Never mind...

"Use Bounce!" Alice ordered, sweatdropping at the exchange. Bella used her attack, using it to bounce on each of the stars and destroy them, creating an effect that made some of Scarlet's points also drop. Then Bella bounced on top of Asher's head, making him wave a fist at her. The attack didn't really do that much damage, but the effect it had created made up for that.

"Dragon Rage!" And you know what I just realised about that attack? The first time I described it, during one of Kirara's battles, it was a beam... last time, it was a shock wave. *sweatdrops*

**_"IT'S KIRA!"_** A familiar voice yelled from somewhere in the region. (I missed that gag. XD)

The shock wave hit Bella, but she managed to recover pretty quickly, hopping up into the air again to avoid a Flamethrower Scarlet had ordered just after the previous attack hit.

"Alright Asher, focus Dragon Rage into a beam and also use Flamethrower!" Scarlet said. Asher did just that, the purple beam firing straight ahead and the Flamethrower managing to swirl around it as if it were a Fire Spin.

"Swift again!" Alice ordered.

The two attacks collided, bursting into various coloured sparkles that surrounded both Pokémon, meaning the amount of points that dropped was equal on each side. I don't even think there's a difference in the point count currently! This is probably gonna be a close one...

**4:01**

"Iron Tail, Asher!" Scarlet called.

"Jump Kick, Bella!" Alice said. Iron Tail was charged quickly, and Bella was already heading at Asher with her own attack.

~X~X~X~

"Is it me... or do these Contests always end up like Gyms?" Indigo said. *sweatdrops* I'm afraid it's not you... according to one old reader, I'm better at contests than gyms... sure, I admit I can come up with a few techniques... but with how crap I am at these battles and they think I'm better at them... then I can't imagine how bad the Gyms seem to people.

"Oh, very, very bad." Auberon said. Oh shut up! No one cares what you think! *blushes embarrassed* "Hahahaha!"

"Don't anger her, she has mom's temper." Jaspa reminded the elf. "They _are_ the same person remember."

"Ah shuddup." Auberon pouted.

"Lookie! Lookie! It's neck-a-neck!" Nevee said, pointing at the battle. Is it me, or is she the most absorbed in the battle today? None of you seem to be paying attention!

But anyway, Nevee was right. The points were equal, and the two attacks last called had somehow clashed in the middle, neither was budging! (Yeah... running theme in my battles right now, I know XD)

"I can't believe Nevee is noticing more than Jaspa!" Auberon said. Jaspa shot him a glare. Hotaru just sweatdropped at them all.

"The sooner we save Ruby and the others, the better. I can't stand this madness for much longer." She said.

~X~X~X~

"I officially don't get how a _Jump Kick_ can be clashing with an _Iron Tail_." Scarlet said. Heh... neither do I! And I wrote this! "I'd fall over 'anime style' if I wasn't in the middle of a battle." Shuddup...

"Dizzy Punch!" Alice ordered. Bella stopped her previous attack, jumping back and promptly making Asher fall to the ground as the clash stopped. Some points on Scarlet's side dropped from the ungraceful landing. Bella then leapt at the Charmeleon **(I just realised I've been spelling it wrong...)** and her bent ear lashed out hard, hitting the Fire Type.

"Smokescreen then Dragon Rage!" Scarlet called out. Asher was up again quickly, blowing the Smokescreen right into Bella's face, making her back off coughing, and let the smoke fill the area like in her battle against Lucy.

The Dragon Rage burst out of the smoke in a shock wave again, cutting a gap in the smoke and hitting the normal type rabbit.

"Ice Beam!" Alice said.

"Flamethrower!"

Naturally, these attacks could not clash. The Flamethrower melted the Ice Beam and burst through to hit the Buneary, but Bella managed to jump out of the way just in time.

"Swift again!"

"Iron Tail!"

The stars were smashed, making sparkles around them, dropping some points on Alice's side.

**2:29**

~X~X~X~

"Just over two minutes to go... who is winning?" Auberon asked. Look for yourself! "No! I don't wanna!" So immature...

"I think... its Scarlet. It's only by a couple of points at the moment, but it's Scarlet." Jaspa said. Um... where's Indigo? "Toilet." Oh, okay. **_Why don't I have a good feeling about this...?_**

~X~X~X~

"Go for another Dizzy Punch!" Alice said. Bella nodded, preparing her attack again. Asher kept himself on guard, ready to dodge when he needed to. Scarlet was waiting too, thinking of a way to counter if needs be. Then she smirked a little to herself, remembering a strategy her mother had taught her, and that she had been using with her Pokémon in training. It wasn't the best strategy for contests, but it may just help her win this battle.

She waited for Bella to finish the Dizzy Punch and jump up, heading for Asher, and then called out: "Use Rage Wave!" Asher, even though this hadn't been used in training before, immediately guessed which attack she meant.

"Huh?" Alice said. You obviously never saw any of Ruby Stone-Ketchum's League Battles.

Dragon Rage quickly fired, full power. Without any previous warning, Bella hadn't gotten chance to dodge, and was hit by the full brunt of the attack. More points dropped as Bella took a lot of damage... eh? One second! Dragon Rage can only do 40HP damage at time!

"Well, believe it or not, I broke the laws of whatever and made it so it can do more." Scarlet said. And remind me how long you've been a trainer? "Coordinator. But... hum... a couple of months?" Well, in your world yes, technically it's been about... Six months or so. **(No joke either! O.O This went by fast for me!)** But that's not the point! How the heck did you manage that at such a low experience?-! "Not a clue. Ask yourself, you write this crap." True...

**1:49**

"Are you alright Bella?-!" Alice called. Bella managed to get back up, though looking like she couldn't take much more, and nodded. "If you're sure... alright, use Swift!"

"Fire Beam!"

"I swear, I hate that tactic already." Alice sighed. "That one isn't all that hard to guess... but still..."

Attacks continued back and forth, points dropping, damage being taken... and then, suddenly...

**0:02**

Bella suddenly collapsed, and three red X's appeared on the Judges' screens. The timer stopped one second before the end of the match. Holy CRAP that is close if I ever saw it!

"**And the winner of this year's contest is SCARLET!**" Lillian announced.

"YES!" Scarlet cheered, jumping up and down. Asher leapt up onto her back, cheering too. Alice smiled at the scene, returning Bella was a thank you.

~X~X~X~

"Scarlet finally gets a ribbon." Indigo smiled, seeing the screen as she walked back to the stands, stopping to watch for a moment. But then she felt a shiver go down her spine, and she turned around, eyes widening in horror. "Wh... Wh-What're you d-doing here?"

"You didn't really think that just because I was knocked out of the contest that I'd leave you alone, did you?" Dax smirked.

Indigo gulped.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Next chapter will be semi-bad, semi-'normal'. I think so anyway. Well, sorry for the delay again, school sucks. R&R!**


	37. Ep 36: Heritage

**Me: I hope this one didn't take as long... well, anyway, back again, and time for a lot of explaining, a giving of the ribbon, and then parting ways with Alice! For now anyway.**

**Episode 36- Heritage**

**"Last episode we saw Scarlet finally win her first ribbon, after two losses! Defeating Alice in the process. Now, we join her as she goes to collect her ribbon."**

"I cannot believe this is happening!" Scarlet squeaked, standing by the entrance to the stage. Alice and Lucy, both now in their normal clothes, stood either side of her.

"Well it is!" Lucy said, putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "You won, so you're going to get the ribbon! You deserve it too, after two losses in a row!"

"Gee... thanks for the reminder..." Scarlet said, slumping over. Lucy sweatdropped, smacking her lightly around the back of the head.

"C'mon Scarlet, you'll be fine up there, just don't get too nervous, you should be happy!" Alice said.

"Yeah, listen to Alice!" Lucy said. Scarlet mumbled something that sounded a bit like 'what if I don't wanna?'. Lucy sweatdropped again. "Look, you'll be fine."

"If ya think so..." Scarlet sighed, standing straight and straightening up her dress and hair. "Alright, time to do this."

"**And here is our winner, Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!**" Lillian announced. Scarlet froze.

"Scarlet! You're up!" Lucy hissed. Scarlet stayed still. Lucy started to try and push her, but still she stood in place.

"**...Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!**" Lillian called again. Again, Scarlet was frozen.

Then Suddenly Lillian poked her head through the curtains, and Scarlet fell back in shock, arms flailing as she fell.

"Whhooooaaaaaooaaaooaaa!" was the only noise she made as she fell, until the resulting thump that is. Gee, Scarlet, I thought you weren't _that_ easily shocked! "Shuddup." She said from the ground."

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

_Indigo gulped._

Dax took a few steps closer until he was standing barely millimetres away from her, she could feel his nearly too clean smelling breath hitting her face, and she began to shake. Dax's hands grabbed her sides tightly, pressing down on where he knew there should be bruises, making Indigo yelp in pain. It was by no means the worst he ever did, but she knew it could only get worse now.

She was right, he legs were kicked from beneath her and she fell back to the floor, hard. Her back was fragile already, it hurt a lot to land so roughly on the tiled floor. She let out a loud cry of pain, feeling a hard kick to her side only seconds after she landed.

"P-Please... s-stop..." Indigo whimpered. Dax ignored her words, only kicking her hard again. Indigo cried out again.

"YOU STOP RIGHT THERE DAX _BLACKTHORNE_!" A male voice yelled. Dax turned around, Indigo weakly pushing herself up a little, and both looked to who was there.

"J-Jas?" Indigo stuttered. The ginger haired boy was standing in the entry to the stands, facing them, fists clenched, eyes starting to change to a bright red colour instead of the yellow he normally had. Indigo could see one drop of blood fall from his one palm, nails digging hard into the hardening skin, but after that there was no more blood from the wound caused.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BASTARD!" He shouted again, suddenly running at inhuman speed toward Dax. Dax was suddenly against the wall, Jaspa holding him there by his throat.

"Jaspa! Jaspa! STOP! DON'T KILL HIM!" Indigo cried, seeing how Dax seemed to be choking from the grip the inhuman boy had on his neck. Jaspa ignored her cry, tightening the hold, Dax choking more. "JAS! PLEASE! I KNOW HE HURTS ME BUT HE'S STILL MY FAMILY! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

"I can't let him do this to you anymore! I won't let him hurt you Indi! I _WON'T_!" Jaspa snarled, eyes bright red now, skin paler than before, face seeming that little bit more perfectly arranged, hair that little bit neater.

"P-Please... stop... y-you're s-scaring me J-Jaspa..." Indigo whimpered, half in pain, half in fright. Jaspa's eyes dulled a little hearing this, face relaxing to a worried look instead of anger. Indigo was tearing up now. Jaspa slowly let Dax go, though the older boy was long since unconscious from lack of air. His eyes faded back to yellow, his skin regaining more colour, though still less than before, and his face looked a bit less perfect, hair back to normal, and he dashed to Indigo's side.

"Are you alright Indi?-!" Jaspa said, sounding panicked. Indigo started to cry into his chest, him rubbing her back as gently as he could. "Are you badly hurt?"

"M-My b-back hurts, and s-so d-do m-my b-bruises a-and l-legs..." Indigo sobbed. Jaspa... you need to take her somewhere... before the others come... you can say she fell over...

"Where the hell have you been?-!" I was kinda taking part in another story... checking on a couple of friends of mine... but I'm back, just get Indigo to the Poké Centre, tell her now. "About..." Yes, about you and Nevee, go! "Alright..."

Jaspa picked Indigo up, and ran out of the Contest hall.

~X~X~X~

"I believe this is your first ribbon, correct?" Contesta said to Scarlet as he handed her the ribbon.

"Yeah, it is." Scarlet said as she took it from him.

"Then congratulations!" Contesta continued. "Well done on your first win."

"I won the Celestic Ribbon!" Scarlet cheered as she held the ribbon up, jumping up and down afterward, behind the curtain Lucy and Alice sweatdropped, Lucy falling over anime style shortly afterward.

"She is hyper as hell sometimes." Lucy sighed. Yep, I know. "Where the hell were you?" In someone else's story checking up on a couple of my friends. (How many times am I gonna have to say that this chapter I wonder?) "Ah, I see. How'd it go?" Well... other than Shrubhill getting blown up, Trayton getting pissed off with me a million and one times, and several other problems... fine. Lucy sweatdropped again. Hey, believe me, if my device had malfunctioned along with Nathen's transporter remote then believe me, it would have been a hell of a lot worse. Lucy sweatdropped again.

"Let me guess, you annoyed this 'Trayton' with the whole 'I know' thing?" Alice asked. Yeah... that, but also a couple of other things. I'm tempted to set he who I will not name (*cough* Blaze Alex's Infernape *cough*) on him, blaming him for the incident that shall not be mentioned. Alice sweatdropped again too. What? He set a _Devire_ on me! (Pokoh Pokémon) And they're a bloody nuisance!

"I'm going to back away slowly now." Lucy said. Gee, thanks.

~X~X~X~

**_Pokémon Centre Room_**

"There, last of the bruises covered." Jaspa said. Indigo was a little red in the face, even though she'd only had to lift her top so he could see her sides and stomach, she still felt embarrassed she'd revealed some of her torso to him.

"Thanks Jas... for everything..." She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. "I've... never had support through this before... it's a great relief..."

"No problem at all Indi." Jaspa said, arm around her. "But now... I think I owe an explanation of exactly what's happening to me and Nevee. You've seen what can happen when we get angry... and you've realised what we're becoming."

"Yeah... you're... you're becoming... V-Vampires... just like your parents used to be." Indigo said, struggling on the word Vampire. Jaspa nodded.

"We're technically already half-vampires, just without a current lust for blood, our true vampire side only shows when we get angry which is why Nevee's has only shown once. You've seen me get angry at least twice now though, right?"

"Y-Yeah, it's scary." Indigo said.

"I know... and I apologise for the past two times and any times to come." Jaspa said softly, making Indigo smile. "But it's a lot more technical than it seems, we're completely unique... our parents are the only vampires ever to have been turned human, or turned human and been able to live without the Volturi hunting them down for stealing the power from them. Guess its lucky dad got permission... anyway...

"There's a gene that never leaves a vampire, the venomous gene, it passes down to the children the ex-vampire has, and depending on if their partner is a human or ex-vampire, turns the child into either a half-vampire or vampire a few months after its tenth birthday, luckily it's not like being bitten, but it will still cause pain when the proper transformation occurs..."

Indigo was listening intently, head still rested on his shoulder.

~X~X~X~

"Has anyone seen Jaspa or Indigo?" Auberon said as the group walked out of the Contest Hall, Scarlet acting like her mother and Pearl, looking at her ribbon endlessly. Oh, they went to the Pokémon Centre, but said you better not disturb them. "Oh... wait, where the heck have you been?-!" *sighs* 3rd time this chapter!

Look, I'll say it for all of you to hear, I've been visiting two of my other OC in someone else's story, got it? Good.

"You are so weird." Scarlet said. I know. "Gah!" *giggle* I missed doing that.

"Again again!" Nevee cheered. And I missed insane little Nevee! Nevee giggled happily, bouncing up and down as the group walked. Hotaru was sweatdropping at the whole scene.

"Hey, Shorty, when are we going to leave town and catch Pokémon already?" Auberon said. Have you been talking to Trayton? "No, why?" Nothing... anyway, you'll leave at the start of next chapter, I even have some new outfits ready for you all, well, not Alice, Hotaru or Lucy.

"Why do we need new outfits?" Scarlet asked. Well, let's be honest, my outfit designs for you are very boring and plain... I came up with a couple more PKMN anime like designs/more interesting. "O...kay?"

"You are seriously strange." Hotaru said. You just insulted yourself. "?" I'm a version of you, or should I said you're a version of me, duh! "..."

"I think you just traumatised her." Scarlet said as she waved a hand in front of her face. Oh gee, thanks.

~X~X~X~

"As I said before, we gain gifts, weak at first, but growing stronger. I can sense when something bad happens to someone like a good friend, family, or good friend's family, my other gift has yet to be revealed... Nevee has a gift for healing, though I've only seen it in action once, and that was the day we left the house, she used it on her Eevee.

"Back there... I was ready to kill Dax... I really was... it took all my willpower not to let the Vampiric side of me take me over... I was almost going to go for his neck with my teeth..."

"I'm glad you didn't. Deep down I'm sure he's still my Daxy, even if he's not so much on the surface... he's still my brother Dax." Indigo said.

"I know." Jaspa said. Indigo giggled. "What?"

"You sounded like Authoress then." She said. Jaspa laughed.

"Oh dear, I did? Better kill me now before I turn into her." He replied. Indigo's smile dropped. "What?"

"1. Don't talk about killing you. 2. Authoress actually isn't that bad when you get to know her sincerer side. Don't let her know I said that though!" Too late! I heard you! "S-..." I thought it was only Scarlet who tried to swear? Indigo shrugged. Well, anyway, I'm flattered! *giggle* Three characters don't hate me now!

"Um? Three? Who's third?" Jaspa said. You of course, and don't deny it, I can read your mind. "Dammit." You know you love me really. **(Oh gee, I sound like Londie...)** "No I don't." Oh wait of course you don't, because you love... "Shut UP!" Jaspa said as he went red.

I love my job.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Why is it I can never keep a chapter tense once I start talking to the characters? XD But anyway, hope this chapter is good enough, the abuse bit was hard to write... well, if you want a sneak look at the outfits I'll upload them to my deviantART before the next chapter is up. R&R!**


	38. Ep 37: Just another day of madness

**Me: I think this chapter I'll have to take up Final Heir's offer of using his Author room to hide in... INDIGO IS GOING TO MURDER ME! Eeeep... I'm dead... most of my outfits I made are PKMN Anime Friendly... but Indigo's is slightly less so... she'll kill me the next chance she gets... IEEEEEE! CRAP! CRAP! THE DEVICE IS GONE! THE DEVICE IS GONE!**

**Episode 37- Just another day of madness**

**"This episode we find out what those new outfits Authoress was talking about are, and also _hopefully_ get some Pokémon caught! How will the day go?"**

Man... I need better material, even Nathen's system's stuff was better than that. And one of them was 'will this day be as easy as a walk on the beach', or something along those lines... **(Yeah, I might reference back to his story more often than I intend to now...) **

"Alright, what the heck is with the packages?" Indigo said as she looked at the package in her hands. Her blue/green died fringe had now been combed to cover one side of her face, and around her neck was a slightly creepy necklace, a pair of red lips with fangs poking out. (Can you guess who gave her that?)

"Um, hello Authoress? She asked a question ya know." Hotaru said. I know I know! Gimme chance for god's sake! Well, Indigo and Jaspa, when you weren't with the others yesterday because of Indigo's fall, I told everyone about how I was making new outfits for you all, spare Alice, Lucy and Hotaru.

"Why...? I'm kinda scared now." Indigo said. You should be... "What was that?" Uh, nothing! Heh... hehe... hehe... hehe... "You scare me more than the clothing possibilities do..." OI!

*cough* Well, anyway, no reasons are needed other than your current clothes are... boring. Aburrido. C-...

"Yeah, we get it, boring." Jaspa said. Meh, yours is still boring. In fact, your current one is less boring than your new one. "Good." You're weird. "Right back at you." Ooo! Someone's gained attitude!

"Can we just get on with this? I want to hurry up and see what terrors you're putting us in." Scarlet said. Oh, be very afraid! MWAHAHAHAHA!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! AUTHORESS IS OUT TO GET US AGAIN!" Auberon suddenly yelled, dropping the package and running around screaming. Oh boy, its return of Mr. Paranoid head! I was only kidding! They're not that bad! "AHH!" *face-palm*

When he ran past Scarlet again she grabbed him by his scarf and held him in place, even if he was running on the spot now. I swear, no wonder I'm insane with these guys in my head... Just go get changed idiots!

Hotaru sighed and pushed all of the off toward the rooms.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Alright then, time for a bit of a fashion show! We'll see all your outfits, and then we can get onto finding you some Pokémon.

The door to the boys' room opened slightly. Ah, no Auberon! We're going in order of character importance. Scarlet, Indigo, Jaspa and Auberon, then Nevee. So, Scarlet, come on out!

Scarlet walked out, and luckily she didn't look annoyed at all by her new clothing. She still had her hair in her usual style, her hat perched atop her head. But now she wore a black bandanna with a red Poké ball symbol on around her neck too, like May's first bandanna but a different colour. She had a short sleeved black hoody on, with a red Poké Ball Symbol on the one side of the waist, the hoody itself was a v-neck, and showed off some of the red long-sleeved top beneath it, which also poked out of the arms. Beneath that she wears a pair of red shorts with a black Poké Ball symbol on the same side of her body as the red one on her hoody. On her feet she now has a pair of black boots, again with a Poké Ball symbol in red on each side, and a pair of black socks with a red band around the top. Her bag was a shoulder bag with a pretty decently sized plump main section, white with a zip down the front and a red Poké Ball symbol, with a red strap.

"I have to say... you could've done worse." Scarlet said, looking herself over. "A _lot_ worse." Aw, thanks! A compliment at last! "Indigo is about to kill you, you know." I gathered that... but she can't get to me! I even took extra precaution! Nathen offered to let me use his Author room, so I used my device and disappeared into it, and locked the device away for good me-...

"She's gone strangely quiet..." Auberon said from behind his door, poking his head out. "Which means we're due an outburst right about... now!"

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THE DEVICE YOUNG ME?-! *cough* Um, I'll get my friend, the real Lucy, (she's fine at writing, don't fret) to finish the descriptions from my notes, I need to go have a little _chat_ with my young self.

Hello!

"Um... Hi?" Everyone else said. Well, I'm Lucy as she said, now, time to get on with these descriptions then. Indigo! Come on out of the room!

"Do I have to...?" Indigo's voice said from behind the door. Yes. "And I thought I could get away with it without big mouth here..." The girl sighed before stepping out.

Her hair has already been described, so I'll skip that. Anyway, she was now wearing a flowing tank top with Black from the chest upwards until the straps, which were blue, and underneath the chest the material was the same shade of blue as the straps. She had a black and white tartan skirt with a blue belt, and a pair of fishnet tights that matched fishnet elbow length gloves beneath it. On her feet she wore black ballet flats, with blue ribbons tied up around her legs from them. On her back was a large bag with the straps and majority of the main section blue, but there was one bottom corner of the main section Black with a blue heart in, and the smaller top section was black too. The bag had many zips.

"I am going to murder G-... Authoress." Indigo said, fists clenched. I think it suits you! "It's way too exposing!" Oh come on! I've worn worse, and I hate skirts! "I'm going to set dad on her."

"Um, isn't that a little extreme?" The story Lucy said. How would you know? "We're the same person." She replied with a sweatdrop. "I know what you know, and you know about Leaf's old want to kill Gem." True.

L-Lucy y-you can go a-away now, I'll take back over.

"Big Mouth?" Auberon said, poking his head around the door again. "What's with the stuttering?" *nervous laugh* N-Nothing A-Auberon! "Are you plotting something...?" He asked with shifty eyes. N-No, quite the contrary...

"Big Gob, I am going to kill you!" Indigo said. Yeah, Yeah, I k-know! Just let me get through the other descriptions first! "Fine... but believe me, I will find a way to get to you and I WILL kill you." *gulp* (She might have the means to do so if my luck hates me as much as it usually does...)

Auberon! Time to get your butt out here!

Auberon walked out of the room. His hair is the same as it has always been, so there's no need to describe that. Now he wore a long sleeved yellow T-Shirt underneath a green button up shirt with a yellow pocket on one side and yellow buttons. He wore a pair of blue jeans with a green belt and covered in various sizes of yellow pockets. He had a pair of odd socks on, one was white and green and the other was white and yellow. His shoes were green with a yellow tongue and yellow Poké Ball Symbols on the outer sides. On his back was a relatively bulky backpack with a large main section and an extra yellow pocket, and yellow straps, but a green main part.

"I have to say... this isn't as bad as I was expecting." He said as he looked himself over. "I kinda miss my scarf though." You'll live. At least you can get strangled by Scarlet with it now. "True."

"Who next?" Scarlet asked. Jaspa, he's a tie with Auberon as the third important character. Describing his outfit won't take long at all, it's really plain and boring. "Okay then, that'll suit him fine. ...But how is he important?" In ways you do not need to know. "O...kay?"

Jaspa get your butt out here!

Jaspa walked out without a word, just standing with his arms folded, though not looking displeased with what he was wearing. He was in a simple white button up shirt, a pair of black dress pants, black dress shoes, an untied tie, an a shoulder-laptop bag with a white clip to shut it and a white strap, but a black main section.

"I thought you said you would never let me wear something like this? Isn't it too 'Artemis Fowl' like?" Jaspa said. I had a change of heart, it looks good on you, better than your old outfit. Just don't turn into Fowl, please. "I won't, sheesh."

"Oooooo! Look who's getting some attitude!" Scarlet laughed. Jaspa rolled his eyes.

"Sooo... next up is Nevee?" Lucy said. Yep! "Nevee! Come on out here!"

Nevee giggled and hopped on out happily, making her now short double plaits bob up and down a little. On top of her head was a bobble hat, striped red and green, the bobble itself green. She was wearing a green t-shirt with a large yellow smiley face on, with a no sleeved red jacket on. Around her neck was a red and green scarf. On her bottom half she wore a pair of jeans with green belt loops on, there was a large red flower with a green centre on the top of one leg and several smaller ones on the bottom of the other leg. Her socks were odd, one having green toes, ankle and top, the other red. They were both covered in red and green dots. Her shoes were green with a red tongue and had a white flower with red centre on the sides. Her bag was a small pouch bag, red bottom and green top flap and strap with a red flower with white centre on the top corner.

"That is so Nevee." Scarlet giggled. "It suits her!"

"I loooooove it!" Nevee cheered. I thought you would! *grin*

"Sooo... now that's over with, Pokémon time?" Auberon said. You are so impatient! Fine, time to go catch Pokémon! "FINALLY MAN!" Shuddup!

~X~X~X~

"Sooo... now we're here... where are all the bloomin' Pokémon?-!" Auberon said. Um... Auberon... "Yeah?" You're only at the entrance to the forest... "Oh."

"You are so dim, Auberon." Scarlet said. Auberon narrowed his eyes at her.

"Want me to pick you up and sling you over my shoulder again?" He said. Scarlet glared in response.

"Try it and I will kick you, _where it hurts_." Scarlet growled, crossing her arms with a smirk then. "That is... if you have anything there." Oh now that was _harsh_, Scarlet! But oh so funny as well!

"...I have no comeback... except the fact you can't really say anything when you haven't got the right parts either!" Auberon snickered. Now this is getting out of hand guys! Stop with the private parts talk, alright? How old are you? "Ten." Exactly. You shouldn't be insulting someone in that way!

Auberon rolled his double coloured eyes, crossing his arms. Scarlet raised an eyebrow at him.

"Anyway..." Indigo said, trying to stop the little feud, "shouldn't we start searching for some Pokémon then?"

You and Scarlet technically don't need to just yet, since you both have already caught your second, so why don't you two either follow someone or do some training?

"Follow." Both said in unison. Everyone sweatdropped.

"What about us?" Lucy said. "We don't need to catch Pokémon either." Ah, I thought about that, Scarlet you are not following, I need you to talk to these two about 'stuff'.

"Alright, alright." Scarlet said, walking over to stand by the two. Lucy chuckled slightly. "What?"

"You should be a little more eager than this; you know what we're 'talking' about." She said. Scarlet shrugged, indifferent look on her face.

"Well, time to get moving for the rest of us!" Auberon said as he started to walk off into the forest. Nevee giggled quietly and started to follow him, surprisingly he didn't notice.

"Should we tell him?" Indigo said in a hushed tone.

"Nah." Scarlet said. "Let 'im suffer." You're cruel today. "I know."

"Alright, I suppose I'll be off too, even if I don't even need to catch a Pokémon." Jaspa said, putting his hands in his pockets and starting to walk off. "Indigo, you coming?"

"Naturally. It might just stop me from killing Authoress for this darn outfit!" Indigo said as she glared at the sky, crossing her arms before she ran after Jaspa and latched onto his arm. Jaspa, who had strangely been walking with his eyes closed, let a smile form on his face. The two then walked into the trees, leaving a slightly dumbstruck trio in their wake.

"Is it me... or did Jaspa just look... handsome?" Scarlet said. I don't think it was just you... the way he was walking even before Indigo grabbed him... he was acting... kinda handsome... whoa.

"That's a minor miracle... I mean it's not like he's a bad looking guy, which I bet sounds a bit weird since he's five years younger than me, but... whoa." Hotaru said, folding her arms with an awed expression. Lucy nodded.

"I guess Indigo really does bring out the best in that guy." She said, slipping her hands into her pockets. The other two nodded, still looking in awe. "Well!" Lucy then said, taking her hands out of her pockets and rubbing them together. "I think we better get training, dontcha think?"

"Yeah, we better." Hotaru said as she unfolded her arms and started to bounce an Aura Sphere in her hand. Um... remember what happened last time you did that Hotaru? The Aura Sphere dissolved immediately. Good girl. "Shut up, Tiny." Speak for yourself! "...Good point." And besides, here Tiny is Destiny's nickname!

"I'll just call you mini instead then!" Scarlet snickered. *rolling eyes* Just get on with training!

~X~X~X~

_With Indigo and Jaspa..._

"Are you even going to catch any Pokémon?" Indigo asked, still latched onto his arm. Jaspa shrugged.

"Maybe, depends if we find anything of interest to me." He said. "I am a researcher after all, I really only want to catch Pokémon with something interesting about them."

"I see..." The two continued to talk about stuff as they walked for a minute, when suddenly something made Indigo trip up, almost pulling Jaspa with her, but with his extra strength he managed to stay upright. Indigo yelped in pain, the fall not helping her injuries.

"Are you alright?-!" Jaspa exclaimed as he dropped down to his knees. Indigo nodded, even if wincing a little, and pushed herself up onto her knees, before turning to look at what tripped her up. An all too familiar round object with several buttons and dials on it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jaspa said.

The Device.

Indigo immediately started to smirk. "Oh this will be fun."

Somewhere, I shuddered.

~X~X~X~

**Me: What's this? A CHAPTER?-! Whoa... minor Miracle 'ey? Well, I felt a little pressured to hurry up and finish because from after the next chapter, I'm doing a joint special with Final Heir. Both Scarlet's Road and Auracian Legacy are going to be doing a joint special for 2-3, maybe 4 at the very most, chapters. We'll probably be coordinating when the updates go up, but I think he'll be waiting for me more since I am such a slow writer these days! To think I used to be able to do two, maybe three, chapters a day sometimes, now I can hardly get one out a month? *sigh* Well, I hope you guys like the outfits, especially since they took up most of the episode. *sweatdrop* Well, R&R!**


	39. Ep 38: Device of Hell

**Me: Here we go! At the end of this chapter there will be the start of the special! Oh yeah, and I'm, or at least the older version of me, is going to get brutally murdered by Indigo this chapter... *gulp* wish me luck!**

**Episode 38- Device of Hell******

**"Last episode was pretty plain to be totally honest with you. We got to see the new outfits the main group will be wearing for probably the rest of the story, and they began to search for Pokémon! I wonder what madness will occur this chapter?"**

I can bet all hell will break loose, in more ways than one... *shudder* Well, anyway, first we join with Auberon and Nevee! Yes, he has now realised she was following him, but surprisingly she's being very quiet! Insane still, but quiet.

"I have yet to encounter a Pokémon." Auberon said as soon as he realised I was back. And I can help with that how? "Can't you make some appear?" Nope. "Sh-... sugar!" Cutting it close there Auberon! "Ah shuddup!"

"Ooo! Poké! Poké!" Nevee said suddenly, pointing behind Auberon. Auberon gave her a look.

"Eevee, really, you randomly exclaiming 'Poké' is not helping." He said. Nevee shook her head and kept pointing, jumping up and down a little.

"Poké! Behind you! A Poké!" She said in her hyper voice. Auberon didn't look convinced at first, but then...

"Carnivine!" A voice said from behind him. He turned his head and saw the Bug Catcher Pokémon behind him in the trees, weird grin plastered on his face. "Car! Carniviiine!" It then waved a leaf hand in a 'follow me' kind of motion before running off... well, if you can call it running I guess.

"I think he wants us to follow, Auberon!" Nevee said. Whoa, that's the first proper sentence she has used in a while!

"And she's right too. Alright Nevee, let's go!" Auberon said, pointing ahead and starting to walk. How am I getting the feeling that outfit is already going to be majorly messed up by the time we come back to you guys?

"Because Auberon is messy!" Nevee giggled as she started to follow. Speak for yourself kiddo. "Auberon is also very stupid." ...Yep, you're right there. "Authoress?" Nevee then said, sounding pretty... normal. Um, yeah? "Will I ever have someone like Jaspa is to Indigo?" One day, Nevee. What brought this serious question around? "Oh... nothing." Nevee said before bouncing off faster after the elfy boy.

You know... I think our little Nevee has had her own little 'love at first sight' thing...

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Indigo, don't touch anything on that thing." Jaspa said, trying to stop the girl from messing with the device we all know is completely dodgy and worthless most of the time. "Who knows what it could do?"

"Get me to a position where I could kill Authoress, that's what!" Indigo replied, trying to figure out how to work it.

"Do you even know where she is?" Jaspa asked. Indigo shrugged.

"There aren't many places, and besides, look," She said, pointing to a button that said 'To the Author' below it, "I can just press that."

"Oh. Well, Authoress sure made that thing strangely." Jaspa said, sighing. "I hope you know what you're doing, that thing could be seriously dangerous." You have no idea... "Authoress!"

"Just the idiot I was listening for." Indigo said, finger hovering over the button. N-Now, th-think about what y-you're doing, I-Indigo! "I already did. I am going to kill you if it's the last thing I do." Eek! Run away! *presses another button in my own Authoress's room and flees somewhere*

Indigo pressed down the button, and started to disappear in a quick flash. But with Jaspa's growing speed he grabbed her before she teleported and got taken in the flash with her.

~X~X~X~

"Good dodge Scarlet!" Lucy said, before throwing another Aura Sphere at Scarlet. Scarlet jumped up and over it and threw an Aura rope at Lucy, catching her in it and holding her in the air. The Rope strained after a minute though, before snapping and shattering. Lucy fell from the air, but luckily Hotaru caught her with glowing eyes before she hit the ground, lowering her slowly until she landed feet first and standing. Lucy looked over to her.

"Thanks Hota-Chan." Lucy said, then looking to Scarlet. "Well done, you nearly have that move down."

"That is the third time its broke today, Lucy." Scarlet sighed.

"You'll get the hang of it."

"In a million years maybe." Scarlet said, sighing again and sitting down. Hotaru and Lucy sat on either side of her, each putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What's gotten into you recently Scarlet?" Lucy asked. "You've got so little faith in yourself! What's putting you down?"

"It's just... I don't feel _strong_ enough to do this... I don't feel like I can save anyone..." Scarlet said, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"You can! You're a Ketchum for Christ's sake!" Hotaru said. "If anyone can do this, it's you!"

"But I'm not trained! By the time I'm ready my whole family will have been taken!"

"Scarlet, listen to me!" Hotaru said, kneeling in front of Scarlet and putting her hands on both of her shoulders. "You _can_ do this! TUA will never have had a stronger opponent that I know of! Once one Ketchum is broken out too, we'll have even more power on our side! We have your aura able friends too! We can do this, Scarlet!" She said sternly, shaking her a little. Scarlet stared stunned for a minute, before grinning and nodding. "FINALLY!"

"Oh shut up shorty." Scarlet laughed, standing up. "Let's get more training done, I am going to perfect that Rope today!"

~X~X~X~

"Ah I so hope nothing in here is unstable... Nathen did warn me he wasn't sure if it was safe here because he hadn't been in, in so long..." Gem said, she looked a lot different but for now her description will be left, you had enough of the descriptions last chapter. She was now in Final Heir's Authors room, hiding from a certain girl. "And if Indigo gets here... eek, I don't want to break anything, I'd be dead twice if I did."

There was then a flash, and Indigo and Jaspa appeared in the room. Gem jumped, gulping.

"Authoress, prepare to die!" Indigo said, running at Gem with the device raised above her head to hit her.

"N-Now now I-Indigo, its o-only a-an outfit!" Gem said, waving her hands around in front of her, nervous sweat forming on her temple. "C-Come on! G-Gimme a break!"

"I don't think so!" Indigo said, moving forward more and backing Gem against something, about to hit her when Gemma suddenly disappeared. "What the hell?-!"

"I think she must have hit something in here that teleported her again." Jaspa said as he walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Well, then we're following!" Indigo said as she pressed the button again. They disappeared in another flash...

_Real World, Britain Somewhere_

...And reappeared in Gem's least high-tech Authoress's room, with only her laptop and a modified TV being the technology in the room. Gem gulped again.

"I so wish I hadn't put that button on that thing." She said. Indigo stepped toward her again, before Jaspa pulled her back a step or two by her shoulder.

"Indigo, she's right, it's just an outfit." The young researcher said. "And besides, I think you look nice in it."

Indigo blushed a little, but shook her head. "I'm still going to kill her, this outfit is much too revealing for my liking!"

Whilst the two were distracted with each other Gem snook forward and grabbed onto the device. But this of course made Indigo look back to her.

"Heh..." Gem said. Indigo rolled her eyes before the two began struggling for the round device. It was being pulled back and forth and back and forth, neither managing to get hold of it, but they were struggling to hold onto it because of how it was round. In haste to get a better grip Gem's hands shifted too far up the sphere and hit one of the buttons.

"Ah crap." Both girls said as the three were again transported.

_Pokémon World, where Indigo and Jaspa first Teleported_

"Uff!" All three exclaimed as they landed roughly. Gem sat up and rubbed her head.

"Ow... last time I had a landing like that from that it was when I began to talk to my characters in RJC..." She groaned. Indigo sat up as well, only to hear a loud uncomfortable groan from beneath and behind her. Looking back she quickly realised she was sat up on Jaspa's stomach.

"Oops, sorry Jas." She said as she got up. Jaspa sighed in relief, coughing a little and sitting up. "I'm not that heavy!"

"No, but your butt was right in my gut, that hurt." He replied. Gem couldn't help but giggle at this, until she noticed something was missing.

"Um... guys?" She said a little tentatively. Indigo looked at her, glaring. "Um, before you kill me... have you seen the device since we landed here?"

"No, why?" Jaspa said, standing up. Gem stood up too, even if feeling awkward as she was probably only the same height as Jaspa, the tallest by an inch of the two, maybe a little taller, but she was still tiny.

"I honestly cannot believe I am only just about taller than a ten year old... man, it was bad enough when I was just fifteen year old me... but even in this world's thirty something year old me I haven't grown... ugh..." She muttered to herself. Then aloud: "Because, Jaspa, last time that thing rolled off TR got hold of it and madness ensued!"

"And that's any different to normal, how?" Indigo said.

"Because if they get hold of it they can get in control of the story, and Nathen's and that would not get me in anyone's good books! They can get to either of our Author's rooms with that thing! We need to get it back!" Gem said.

_Meanwhile, In the Trees_

"So dis thing is actually useful?" Meowth said, holding the device. Gwen looked it over.

"Well... if what Authoress lady said is true, then yes! We could easily take over the whole Pokémon _World_ with this in our hands!" The woman said.

"Alright! Let's get out of here then, before they spot us!" Gareth said, doing one of those quick as a flash movements into the basket of their balloon. The others followed him, and Meowth set the balloon off into the air, above the trees... and right above the other three.

"Team Rocket!" Jaspa exclaimed.

"Oh how did I know this would happen?" Gem groaned, bashing her head off her fists numerous times.

"Oh boy, they're back to cause trouble again no doubt!" Indigo sighed.

And naturally, now spotted the trio couldn't help themselves:

Gareth: Prepare for trouble, in the museum of rocks!  
Gwyneth: Make it double, we've got this in the box!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"Oh shut your stupid mouths!" Indigo yelled up at them. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"At least I have a natural hair colour." She said. Indigo just gave her a weird look.

"That won't work on her, Gwyneth." Gem sighed, folding her arms. "She's not a purple haired version of a bimbo like you."

"HEY!" Gwen yelled, vein on her temple pulsing. Gareth and Meowth just about stopped her leaping out of the balloon at the tiny authoress. "Well, whatever," She started after she calmed a little, "we have your device! You can't stop us now!"

"Oh you so do not know me very well. I am going to take this chance to kick your butts!" Gem said as she grabbed onto a Poké Ball. "Blaze you get your butt out here!" She called as she threw it, her Blaziken appearing.

"Blaziken!" He said.

"Dustox, come on out here!" Gwen called, letting out the moth Pokémon.

"Mr. Mime, you're up!" Gareth said. Gem looked to the others.

"Either of you mind if I do this by myself? I'm worried Indigo's Mudkip might evolve if she battles with me, since I'm saving that for a later date." She half asked, half stated.

"Fine by me." Both said in unison, making them blush slightly. Gem turned back to the TR trio, smirking.

"You better be ready to get blasted off again!" The authoress snickered. "Blaze, Flamethrower at Dustox, knock it into Mr. Mime!"

"Psybeam, both of you!" The two G's ordered. But being the idiots they are they didn't see how Dustox was actually in front of Mr. Mime, which was why Gem was confident he would be knocked back into the other Pokémon, so the Barrier Pokémon's attack crashed into Dustox.

Gem snickered as Dustox was then hit with Flamethrower and was indeed knocked back into Mr. Mime, and straight back into the balloon too. Then the normal explosion began, but no one noticed a slight red glow inside the blast, around the point of the device.

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Team Rocket screamed as they disappeared into the sky with their usual star flash.

"Um, what about the device Authoress?" Jaspa said. Gem turned with a huge grin, device hovering in the air, red glow around it. "But how...?"

"Aura. I'm all powerful, kids, I have strong Aura and amateur control over it." Gem said. She made the device hover to them for a second, before dropping control and making it look like an accident. "Whooooooa!"

"Got it!" Both kids said at the same time, catching it. They blushed as their hands brushed.

"Thanks you two!" Gemma said as she took it from them. "Now, you two hurry back to where the others are, we've been gone longer than it seems, Auberon and Nevee are almost back, and Scarlet and the other two are waiting. Go." She said before disappearing.

"Let's go Indi." Jaspa then said. Indigo smiled and nodded, and the two walked off.

~X~X~X~

"You two are late!" Indigo laughed as Auberon walked back, Nevee not far behind him. Sure enough, he was covered in dirt, just like I predicted.

"That Carnivine was a hard thing to follow..." He grumbled. So...? Did you get it or not? Auberon's expression then turned to a grin before he held up a Poké Ball. "Yep! Got it!" Good on you!

"Hey, on the subject of Poké Balls, what's with them now?" Scarlet said, looking at hers.

Ah, well, you see I decided to design you all custom Poké Balls so you can find yours easily! Scarlet, yours are red with fire around the base of the top section, and a red/yellow K on it. Auberon, yours have grass around the top red section. Nevee, yours are green with red flowers on. And Indigo, yours are blue with a net design over the top section and bubbles.

"Cool." They all said in unison. Jaspa, yours are normal, I forgot about you.

"No matter, mine are fine as they are." He said, shrugging. Alright! So, now, get moving! It's going to take you a while to reach Veilstone, there might even be a small town or two along the way, maybe even a contest. So get moving!

"Alright alright, is it me or have you gotten more bossy?" Scarlet said, crossing her arms. Ah shuddup, and get going?

"It's not you. I've noticed it too." Lucy whispered to Scarlet, making her laugh.

~X~X~X~

_About ten minutes later..._

Gem sat in her own kind of Author(ess)'s room, just a small side room in the back of the Viridian Gym, nothing special, it had a few tools lying around, her laptop on the desk, and three other monitors. One had an image of the group; the image could split into various different sections for when they went off in separate directions or places from each other so she could keep an eye on them all. Another held a map of the Pokémon World, which was currently zoomed in on Sinnoh, many different coloured blips representing each OC involved in the story all over the region. The third showed a complex blueprint for a round object familiar to us all. The Device.

Gem was at a work bench, hands and even her face covered in mess from the device's workings, a screwdriver in her hand as she tried to adjust the many, many faulty parts. She wasn't having much luck though.

"Man, why did I have to make this thing so freakin' complicated? _How_ did I make it so freakin' complicated for that matter?" She grumbled as she continued to work on it. "Man, I need an engineer in here for this crappy thing." Then something in it shocked her, and she jumped a little in her seat. "Shit! Ow!" She automatically dropped the device, making it slam down on the bench. Sparks appeared around it, and there was a flash and a small, very, very small explosion that puffed smoke in Gem's face. "Crap that can't be good."

"_BIG MOUTH!_" Scarlet's voice screamed, coming through one lonely speaker by the first monitor. Without looking at the screen Gem called back, all too used to Scarlet's random outbursts of annoyance at her.

"WHAT?-!"

"_LOOK AT YOUR DAMN MONITOR!_" Scarlet screamed again. Annoyed Gem turned to look at the monitor, eyes widening when she saw sparks around Indigo and Jaspa.

"What. On. Earth?-!" Gem exclaimed, standing up quickly and looking at the screen closer.

"_What's going on Authoress?_" Indigo asked.

"I do-... ah, I think I know what's wrong." Gem said as she glanced to her device. "Besides me, you two were last to touch the Device, correct?"

"_Yes, but what's that got to do with anything?_" Jaspa said. Gemma sighed.

"Wellll... I may have had a _tiny_ accident with the device when trying to fix it... and it was sparking like you two are at the moment a minute ago... sooo... I think it locked onto the last two story's DNA signatures that held it, and is going to do something with them... not sure what. But it was on teleport setting last time I checked."

"_I am going to smash that device the next chance I get! Borrow someone else's transportation device!_" Indigo said.

"Who's?-!" Gem snapped back in retort, tapping a finger hard on the screen, which made them hear a loud bang. "Look, just stay calm an-... what the fudge?"

The screen split down the middle, compressing the one image of the main group into one half of the screen, and adding a new image to the other side. Gem's eyes widened recognising the characters in the new section, and who there were sparks around in that one too. She grabbed her device and looked at the location setting:

**Final Heir: Auracian Legacy, Pokoh**

"Ah shit." Gem swore.

And then, before another word was said by anyone at all, there was a mini explosion from the device, at and both the sparking sites. Everyone let out an exclamation of 'WHOA!' before it faded, revealing the un-sparking members of the groups on the floor around where the two who were sparking had been, and where two people still were, now on their butts on the floor.

But they weren't the people who had been there before.

"Double shit." Gem said when she saw what had happened.

_"Where the hell are we?_" Bother Alice and Nathen, and Indigo and Jaspa said at the same time.

"Triple freakin' shit." Gem groaned as she smacked her head off the table. "I am _so_ dead!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: And thus starts the special! This is going to be interesting! If you want to keep an eye on Indigo and Jaspa, read Final Heir's Auracian Legacy! Now, as a review reply to the Anon. Yes, your character will make an appearance again soon, even if brief. Okay, now over Christmas I probably won't be updating, but I will at least _work_ on chapters and a Christmas/My Birthday (way back on the 1st Nov!) special. Well, R&R!**


	40. Ep 39: Switcheroo?

**Me: Here we go again, time to see more of what just happened! And... I have nothing else to say except happy late Christmas!**

**Episode 39- Switcheroo? **

**"Last chapter we saw Indigo's futile attempts to kill our Authoress, and TRm3's return! We also saw an interesting little incident, that may have lead to something strange happening..."**

Now on the floor in the middle of the group were two unfamiliar people, well, unfamiliar to the group at the very least.

The male had shoulder length dark blue hair, tied back in a ponytail at the bottom of his hair line, with blue eyes. He wore a dulled dark blue pair of pants with a white tribal design on the left leg, a white long sleeved shirt with a black and blue version of the Unova Region Poké ball Symbol and black sleeves that started at the collar and goes along the shoulder. Over that he had an unzipped black long sleeved jacket that with a collar that covered his neck when zipped and a silver shield with a light blue crystal in the middle of it and with Angel Wings that covered most of the shields edges on the back of the jacket. On his feet were a pair of black silver and blue running shoes. And around his neck an aged silver locket, and an Aura Stone.

The female had waist length light blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a black pair of pants that had a light blue flower design on the left pant leg, with black heeled boots, a white long sleeved shirt with a black rose imprint in the centre, and a black long sleeved jacket that covered down to her waist, on the back of the jacket a white angel wing design.

"Where the hell are we?" They said. Triple freakin' shit. I am _so_ dead!

"Gem?" The male then said. Heh... the one and the only. You have three guesses to where you are. "Sinnoh, year 2038, route to Veilstone City, aka route 210." Alright, alright, show off! "How did that happen exactly?" Again, you have three guesses. "Device Malfunction?" Got it in one! "I wonder how?" Oi, Nathen, isn't it supposed to be me who makes sarcastic remarks about Author powers?

"Um, Authoress?" Scarlet said, sitting up. "Explanation please? Who are those two?"

Ah, introductions time I guess. Well, guys, this is Nathen Pierce and Alice Shine, and I think they're going to be your travelling companions for a little while.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Say _what?-!_" Auberon exclaimed. "You're replacing Indigo and Jaspa?-!"

"No, Auberon, we're not replacing them. W-..." Nathen tried to say, before our very own paranoid elf cut him off.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?-!" He yelled. Nathen sweatdropped.

"Nathen, where are we?" Alice said to him. "Who are these people?"

"We're in a different story universe, Scarlet's Road to be exact. And the author, or in this case Authoress, just happens to be Gem, someone I know." Nathen replied. Look, I think we need to do proper introductions. Everyone get up off the floor, and let me introduce you all to each other! Sheesh!

"You get bossier each and every episode." Scarlet said as they all got back up to their feet. *sticks out tongue* "Now you're acting like Nevee."

"Me? Me?" Nevee said, jumping up a couple of times when hearing her name. Man Nathen, you sure you know what you've gotten yourself into?

Anyway, time for introductions. Scarlet, Auberon, Nevee, Lucy and Hotaru, meet Nathen and Alice. Nathen and Alice come from another story, and Nathen is the author there.

"Ah, lemme guess, this Auracian Legacy you keep going on about?" Lucy said. Yep!

"How does he know my name though?" Auberon said, giving Nathen a shifty look. Nathen and Alice sweatdropped. Well, you do remember that people read this, right? "Um... yah." Well, Nathen reads this, just like I read his story too. He knows all your names. That is all the explanation I can give though.

"Well, that makes sense now." Hotaru said.

"I'm still confused as to how we got here." Alice said, brushing herself off. "What did you two mean with 'Device malfunction'?

"Gem has her own kind of Transport Device to get around, like that watch I have." Nathen said. "But... it's not always... in the best of condition."

"It's a piece of shit basically." Scarlet said. Scarlet! "What? You gotta gimme that one, it's the best way to describe it!" ...Good point... I'll let you off this time.

"Now, why don't we all set up camp and get to know each other a little better? And Gem, why don't you jump down here?" Nathen said. Oi, I'm in charge here remember! And okay, its lucky I don't need my device to get down there.

"Lucky for you maybe..." Hotaru muttered, snickering. I heard that! *sigh* All my characters, and most of others' OC, hate me!

"I don't!" Nevee said. Yeah, I know, as I said to Nathen before: The only one of my characters that doesn't hate me is a silly little girl who can't sit still. Nevee giggled. "I know! Hee-Hee!" And anyone else would find that insulting...

"Well, that's Nevee for you." Nathen said with a shrug. True. Well, here I come then! Prepare for yet another description!

Gem dropped down into view, short as ever. Her sandy coloured hair had been straightened and reached to her butt, fringe covering one eye, with the end of it dyed black, as well as a very thick clump on her left. She had a white blouse on with a v-neck long sleeved, long black top that reached below her butt, with a red heart on the side that half showed on the front and half on the back, that had two bones sticking out of it, an end of each bone poking out to form what would be an X if you could see all the bone. Under that she had thick white leggings, that reached just above her knees, and then black and red striped socks that reached just below her knees. On her feet were white trainers with black tongues.

"How many appearance changes do you make a year?" Auberon said.

"Um... ten or so? I don't count." Gem said, waving a dismissive hand at the elf like boy. "Well, anyway, time to set up camp! It's getting quite late to be honest, since most of the day was taken up by the outfits and looking for Pokémon, or in some people's cases getting homicidal over an outfit or being chased by said homicidal girl."

"Alright then! Camping time!" Scarlet said.

"WHOOP!" Nevee cheered.

"Oh boy, I can already tell our time here will be crazy." Nathen said with a chuckle.

~X~X~X~

Tents were set up, and everyone was sat around in their sleepwear. Nathen's and Alice's you'll have to imagine yourselves, but the others can be described briefly. Scarlet's was a long red tank top, reaching her knees, and a pair of black shorts underneath, and her hair let down. Auberon's was a yellow and green striped t-shirt and a pair of black bottoms. Nevee's was a yellow t-shirt and a pair of red bottoms with happy faces all over them, hair let loose, wavy from the plaits. Lucy was just in her black t-shirt and a pair of baggy black bottoms, Gem was in a red tank top with black bottoms, and Hotaru hadn't even changed.

They all sat on logs, knocked down by Gem's Pokémon, around a small campfire. Asher sat in front of Scarlet, happily chatting to the other Pokémon who had been let out. A Tikamo, see Her Journey Her Story for description, sat on Gem's lap, its fellow grass type Turtwig on Auberon's head. Eve had dozed off in Nevee's lap. Alice's Glaceon sat by her side, whilst Nathen's Lucario (Aura) sat by him. She had a unique colouring, all the blue was pink, all the black was white and all the yellow was red. By Gem Blaze sat, though he looked to be in a bit of a meditative position.

"What's with your Blaziken Big Mouth?" Scarlet asked.

"He does that sometimes, he thinks it helps him concentrate, and to be honest I have to admit that since he started it he has become better in battle... until Nathen's Infernape kicked his butt." Gem said, shooting a look at the other Author.

"What can I say? The stronger trainer won." He said with a small laugh.

"If you hadn't have modified your last Pokémon I might have had a chance at beating at least _one_ of your Pokémon." Gem pouted.

"Um, can you guys start talking about what we're _supposed_ to talk about?" Hotaru said. "Like who we all are?"

"Of course. Alice, Nathen, why don't you introduce yourselves first? Your name and something about yourself." Gemma said.

"Oh boy, its feels like the first day at Trainer School again." Scarlet said, face palming. Gem covered her mouth, making all present sweatdrop.

"Well, I'm Nathen Pierce, and I'm Author of Auracian Legacy." Nathen said. "I'm not going to say too much else, but I will say that like at least two of you I am set on bring down a certain evil organization."

"Ah." Lucy and Hotaru said at the same time.

"I'm Alice Shine. And like Nathen, I also want that organization brought down." Alice said, sat up close to Nathen's side on the log the two were sharing.

"I'll start for these guys. I'm Gem, or Big Mouth as most here know me by. And for my bit of info, I'll be boring and say I'm weird."

"Well all know that one." Auberon snickered. Gem ignored him the best she could, even if muttering to herself something about 'He's almost as bad as Trayton...'.

"For that you can go next, Elfy." Gem said.

"Well, I'm Auberon Baker and if you haven't noticed I have a defect that makes me a bit like an elf, and not the ones from Christmas." Auberon said. "Speaking of Christmas... are we going to get to celebrate it?"

"Dude, it's not Christmas in this world, sorry. My timeline is major dodgy." Gem sighed. Auberon groaned. "But I could maybe swing getting you guys a present each I guess." The Authoress then added. Auberon did a 'kerching', and once again everyone sweatdropped. "Well, anyway, Scarlet you next."

"I'm Scarlet Stone-Ketchum, and I am totally the star of this story!" Scarlet said. Gem face palmed.

"You are not!" Auberon said.

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Who's name is in the title mister? Not yours!" Scarlet said.

"So what?-! That doesn't make you the star!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"That could go on for a while..." Gem sighed.

"Let's leave them too it then and let the others introduce themselves." Nathen suggested. Gem nodded, and gestured for Lucy to introduce herself.

"I'm Lucy Montez, ex-grunt of TUA, and Hotaru here's partner." Lucy said, patting her friend on the shoulder as she said this. Hotaru just chuckled, before starting her introduction.

"I'm Hotaru, ex 2nd rank commander of TUA's forces, and Lucy's mentor and partner." She said.

"And I'm Nevee! I like Cookies!" Nevee said. Gemma couldn't help but giggle a little at this.

"Yes, Nevee, I think we know that." She giggled, patting the girl on the shoulder. Then she yawned. "Well, everyone, I think it's about time we all went to sleep, we can have a proper chat in the morning over breakfast... ah crap who's gonna cook? Jaspa normally cooks for these guys!"

"Well, Nathen or I could cook." Alice suggested.

"Thanks Alice." Gem said before clapping her hands loudly, making everyone – even the fighting pair – to look at her. "Sleep time guys! Everyone either get in your tents or a sleeping bag outside! Your choice! I'll stay on watch."

"You are such a bossy boots!" Scarlet said as she stood up. Gem just shrugged.

"It's my job. Now sleep!"

"Alright, alright!" Scarlet said, going over to her black tent and clambering inside, doing the zip up behind her. Auberon clambered into his sleeping bag outside, by the side of Scarlet's tent, being the elfy kid he is preferring to be around nature. Nevee was handed a glass of water with sleeping pills in and had just enough time to bounce over into her tent and zip it up before she fell asleep. Alice walked to her tent, smiling at Nathen before going inside and zipping it up. Nathen went toward his own tent, but looked back at Gem before he went in.

"This is going to be interesting, isn't it?" He said.

"It sure is. At least you know what these guys are like, I feel sorry for Alice. And let's hope we don't bump into your trio or Alice Shadow, that would be really confusing." Gem laughed.

"I doubt we'll see Alice Shadow, since she was at the last town, but with my trio then that would be confusing, but I don't think it's advisable to make that happen." The other Author said, giving her a look. Gem rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know." She said, folding her arms. "How dumb do you honestly think I am?"

Nathen just laughed before climbing into the tent and zipping it up. Gem sighed slightly, but giggled and sat on the log again, smacking Blaze around the back of the head to snap him out of his Meditating.

"Blaze, keep an eye on the sleepy head Pokémon, will ya?" She asked. The Blaziken nodded, sitting and keeping watch over the group's left out Pokémon. Gem yawned, but managed to stay awake, poking at the fire. "Tomorrow will be one busy day... I think I better stay down here, or thing might get even c-... then again I make things crazy... ah whatever, it'll be annoying for them... I just wonder how Indigo and Jaspa are... hope they're not too mad with me... and that they're okay..." Then she laughed. "And maybe, just maybe this might mean the others in Auracian Legacy can get 'em closer... make my job easier."

She laughed for a minute, then sighed, grabbing her bag and pulling out her device and a small toolbox. "Better attempt more fixing, but with it turned _off_ this time." She said before pulling out a screwdriver.

~X~X~X~

**Me: And there's the special's start! It will get more interesting, don't worry. Remember, if you wanna see how our little pair is doing, check out Auracian Legacy! Well, R&R!**


	41. Ep 40: Switcheroo? Pt 2

**Me: Next chapter of the special! And to be honest, this is going to be completely off the top of my head, I don't have a plan at all past the beginning! *facepalm* Well, let's see how this turns out.**

**Episode 40 (Whoop the big 40!)- Switcheroo? Pt. 2**

**"Really, Authoress? You're so lazy you can't think of a new chapter name?"**

"Ah shuddup and get on with your intro! It's easier calling all the special parts in parts, I'm crap at names!"

**"Anyway! Last chapter we saw an interesting twist as two new friends joined our group and Indigo and Jaspa disappeared! Who knows what will happen next?"**

*BOOM!*

"What the hell?-!" Scarlet said, her exclamation echoed by five other voices. The ones in the tents all, minus Nevee, poked their heads out, seeing a large cloud of black smoke surrounding where Gem had been sat the previous night, they couldn't see her or any of the Pokémon that had been left out. Auberon was sitting up in his sleeping bag looking with wide eyes, face covered in black residue from the smoke and whatever had caused it.

"Ah shit!" A voice came from inside the smoke. Everyone present sweatdropped when they realised who was behind the smoke cloud. "Someone clear the bloody smoke!"

"Easy for you to say! We haven't got any flying types, remember?-!" Auberon said. Alice then ducked back into her tent and started rummaging for something.

"I do though!" She said before pooping her head back out, and opening a Poké Ball. Out of it popped a bird Pokémon that Scarlet, Auberon and Nevee had never seen before. It was around the size of a Pigeotto, its head was a metallic blue and the rest of it was orange other than its tail which was black. "Starlwing, blow the smoke away!"

The Pokémon nodded and flapped its wings, blowing the smoke away into the trees and revealing the Pokémon and human that had been hidden by it previously.

Gem was sat with the device in her one hand, screwdriver in the other, completely covered in the residue; instead of it just being her face like with Auberon. The device looked almost completely busted now.

Around her were the Pokémon who had been left out the night before, some were standing, some still sitting, some half way between each. They were all also covered in black too. None of them looked all that impressed, except Eve... she was being just like her trainer would be in this situation and messing around with the residue.

It took a few seconds, before everyone just burst out laughing.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

Gem clambered out of Scarlet's tent in a clean set of her outfit, face and hair cleaned up. The Pokémon had cleaned themselves up too, spare Eve again; she was still covered in the black stuff and sat on Nevee's head.

"What happened there?" Nathen said, currently sitting on one of the logs with Alice next to him, cooking something. Alice would occasionally put something else in, or help him do something, but otherwise she was currently pretty inactive.

"I tried to fix the device again, and it blew up." Gem said simply as she sat down. "It's beyond repair, which means we're not getting Indigo and Jaspa back here that way."

"Great..." Auberon sighed, before trying to get a proper whiff of what Alice and Nathen were cooking.

"Auberon, the more you keep doing that the more time it'll take us." Alice said. Auberon groaned and just sat back down, in front of Scarlet. She constantly messed with his hair, making him get annoyed at her, especially when she then decided it was a smart idea to pull on the tips of his ears which ended in a random mallet appearing and Auberon thwacking Scarlet over the head with it.

"Is it always like this here?" Alice asked, not really directing the question at a specific person.

"Yes." Everyone else answered.

"O... kay..." Alice said, continuing to help Nathen with the cooking.

"Now, Scarlet?" Nathen said.

"Yep?"

"After this Alice and I need to have a little talk with you, and Hotaru and Lucy, if that's alright." The Author said.

"Sure." Scarlet replied.

"Why're Nevee and I left out?" Auberon whined.

"Because not everything about this story involves you two!" Gem said, smacking him around the back of the head.

"_Nothing_ ever involves us!" Auberon whined again. "Do we even _have_ a plot?-!"

"You do, its small but it's important. Nevee does too, one I can't say." Gem said. "So stop moaning about it!"

"Breakfast is ready!" Alice then said. And in an instant both Scarlet and Auberon were in front of the two cooking teens, ready for food.

"Guys!" Gem groaned, facepalming hard. "I swear! Scarlet you are way too much like your mother and grandfather, and I don't even know where Auberon got it from!"

"So? Food is awesome!" Both said at once. Gem mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'you two are so similar, no wonder you're perfect for each other...'.

"Alright alright, guys, here." Alice laughed as she dished out the food, a good decent, large breakfast.

Soon everyone was sat around, plastic plates on their laps with plastic knives and forks, eating.

"This isn't half bad." Gem said whilst eating. "Thanks you two! Sorry about the plastic cutlery and stuff though, Jaspa had all the decent stuff in his bag... and all the ingredients..."

"Don't worry about it." Nathen said, continuing to eat, quickly finishing up the last of what was on his plate and standing up. "The ones I need to speak to come and join me as soon as you're ready." He said before walking off. Alice finished up her food and went after him.

"Ya know," Scarlet said whilst chewing, "to me it seems like we've swapped one semi-happy couple for another happy couple."

"Gee, you only just noticed?" Auberon said.

"Shut up both of you." Hotaru said. "I swear, you guys like teasing people about romantic feelings way too much." The ex commander sighed.

"So?" Both said at once again.

"It's not nice to tease about love, ya know. If you tease, you might just drive people further apart." Nevee said, sounding... serious. Everyone looked at her. "Wut?" She then said, in her usual tone.

"Nothing..." Gem said, exchanging a bit of a nervous glance with the two TUA ex members.

"Well, I'm all finished!" Scarlet said, standing up. "I'm gonna go find those two! See you guys later!" She added before walking off.

"Same here." Hotaru said, standing along with Lucy. "See you all later." Then they walked the way Scarlet had.

"So... now what?" Gem said.

"Tea party!" Nevee giggled.

"Oh shit..." Auberon and Gem said at the same time.

~X~X~X~

"So, lemme guess, this is to do with Aura?" Scarlet asked, sat with her legs crossed.

"Yeah, got it in one Scarlet." Nathen said. "Now, I know you already know how to see Aura, so take a look at Alice and me."

Scarlet nodded and closed her eyes, seeing Nathen's Blue and extremely strong aura, and Alice's blue aura, it was probably just a bit over average level, so relatively weak compared to everyone else present.

"Whoa! Nathen yours is really powerful!" Scarlet gasped, opening her eyes. Nathen chuckled.

"Yours is pretty strong too you know, probably not all that far off mine. Yours is just a lot harder to release and control for you." He said.

"We've noticed that. She can use it well enough, but it doesn't seem to be her full power." Hotaru said. "Do you have any idea why that is?"

"If I'm correct, none of the Ketchums have trained in aura before the age of fourteen?" The teen asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Scarlet said. "Why? Is that important?"

"It could be nothing... but maybe it's the fact you're a lot younger than other Ketchum users holding you back." Nathen said.

"That could be it." Lucy said. "Well, anyway, I'm guessing we're here to do more than talking, right?"

"Yeah, we are. Whilst Alice and I are here I thought we could give you a little help training up the little prodigy." He said. "So, to start off, how about one of you have a friendly aura battle against each of us? So you know how strong we are."

"I'll fight. I'm itching for a decent fight, I'm not allowed to fight the way I normally do when I train with Scarlet." Hotaru said, standing up from a meditative position on the ground.

"Alright then, but don't expect to beat me." Nathen said.

"Oh please, strong Aura or not I was a 2nd Rank commander for TUA, mister, almost up to 1st rank. It takes a lot to get that high." Hotaru said with a smug smirk.

"Or really? Well, you may be a slight challenge then, but don't get your hopes up. After all, you are facing an Heir." Nathen said with a light laugh.

"Wait, say what?-!" Hotaru and Lucy both exclaimed at once.

"My tale is a long one, one that I'd rather not tell if you don't mind. I'm sure you can understand that, Hotaru." Nathen said. Hotaru nodded at this, knowing full well that some pasts were better left unsaid. "Now, let's get this battle started!"

"Now you're talking! Bring it on!" Hotaru said as her expression turned from a surprised one to one of determination. Lucy, Alice and Scarlet all took this as a cue to stand back.

Hotaru was first to move, she had always trained herself in speed, and thus was very quick at both attacks and dodging. She threw an Aura Sphere, and then quickly jumped up as Nathen knocked it right back at her. She avoided it easily, it knocking down a tree a few metres behind her. But when she landed on the ground, well balanced, she was suddenly knocked back by an Aura Pulse, a concentrated beam of Aura. None of the attacks being used during this battle would be intended to hurt, though they would still have the effect they would have if it were a normal battle, just less painful.

"Never let your guard down for even a second, you should have been prepared for that." Nathen said as he tossed an Aura Sphere at the ex commander.

"Oh Shut. Up." Hotaru said, rolling her eyes as she practically sidestepped the attack. She threw another Aura Sphere, once again having it knocked straight back at her but by then she'd already put up an aura shield around her.

"You are very fast." Nathen commented.

"I should hope so, I've been training myself to be so for the past five years." Hotaru replied, opening a small gap in the shield and firing her own Aura Pulse. Nathen was hit but quickly recovered, and somehow before Hotaru had even closed the gap up he managed to fire an Aura Sphere, large but small enough to fit through the gap, knocking Hotaru dead centre in the chest. The Shield fell and Hotaru fell back to the ground, landing on her butt. "Uff!"

"Now, let's see you dodge this." Nathen said, throwing an Aura Dagger, which he had made sure would harmlessly pass through Hotaru causing no injury, straight at her. Hotaru tried to get up in time but by the time she was even half way to standing the Dagger went straight through her abdomen. She felt no pain but she was knocked straight back down to the ground, where if this had been a real fight she probably would never have stood up from.

"And it looks like Nathen is the winner!" Alice announced. Hotaru got up, and held a hand out, which Nathen shook.

"You're good. Very good. I haven't had a battle like that one in a while, and that wasn't even that long! I'm really not used to people managing to get me before I can stand." She said.

"Speed isn't everything." Nathen said. "It helps, but it's not everything." Hotaru nodded, then turning to the others.

"Alice you wanna battle Lucy or not?"

"No, I think I'd rather just help with the training for Scarlet here." Alice said.

"Alright then! Let's get started!" Scarlet said eagerly.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Man I am getting chapters out faster than I have in a while! This special is actually helping! Since Final Heir reminds me every now and again that I need to finish my part I concentrate on it more! Thank him for the updates that take less than a week now! ^.^ Well, anyway, this chapter again wasn't all that exciting, but I honestly can't think of much else other than Aura Training right now. Well, R&R!**


	42. Ep 41: Switcheroo? Pt 3

**Me: Here we go! I think this'll be four parts in the end, we'll see I guess. Well, here we go!**

**Episode 41- Switcheroo? Pt. 3**

**"Last chapter was the continuation of this little swap that's going on between this story and another! But instead of heading toward the 'chat' that is going on between the two new friends, the ex TUA members and Scarlet, we join Nevee, Auberon and Gem! Oh boy..."**

"This is torrrrrrrture..." Auberon groaned, anime streams of tears running down his face.

The Camera zooms out to reveal Auberon and Nevee sat around a tiny table with a teapot, girly cups, and little stools. Auberon had been forced to wear a tiara.

"Having fun down there?" Gem said from a tree.

"I thought you didn't like heights?" Auberon said. Gem shrugged.

"Heights are better than _that_. That is extreme, even for Nevee's childish nature." She laughed. Auberon glared at her. "Don't glare at me; you should know by now even if Nevee learns the script eating it she doesn't follow it. I didn't plan this at all."

"More teeeea!" Nevee giggled, pouring the 'tea' – which was in fact just water with brown food colouring in (at least... I hope it's just food colouring...) – into his tiny cup. Reluctantly he drank some, facing contorting, obviously it didn't taste nice.

"Are you sure this is food colouring?" Auberon mouthed at Gem. Gem shrugged, making Auberon groan.

"When will this bloomin' torture ennnnnd?" He moaned.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Ow!" Scarlet said as the aura sphere snapped back to her hands. "That hasn't happened in ages..."

"You're pushing more power into them this time, Scarlet." Lucy said from her position on a tree branch, watching as Alice helped train Scarlet in Aura Spheres. "That's why you're finding them hard to control."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it Scarlet, you'll get it soon enough." Alice said encouragingly. "It'll just take a bit of practice. Even if you haven't got it by the time Nathen and I get back to our own story, Lucy and Hotaru can continue the training."

"True..." Scarlet said, though she still seemed a bit unsure. "Why do I need to learn to push more power into the spheres anyway? I've done fine without doing it before."

"If you want to be able to fight off a grunt, then sure, normal power is fine-..." Nathen started.

"Hey! I resent that!" Lucy said from her tree branch. Hotaru chuckled from the base of the tree.

Nathen laughed a little, then continued, "but when you get past the people on grunt rank you start needing more power. With ranks like soldiers and elites you need a bit more added power, which is what you're doing now. When you get to Lieutenants and low ranked commanders you'll need even more added power. Any higher than that, high rank commanders, heirs, lords... well, for one hardly anyone has a chance against an heir or lord, but with the commanders you definitely need a hell of a lot more power to even stand a chance."

"Oh." Scarlet said again.

"Some grunts are strong too ya know!" Lucy said, still insulted by Nathen's earlier comment. Nathen laughed again.

"I was talking in a general sense, Lu'." He said. "I wasn't saying you were weak." Lucy huffed a little, but nodded.

"So... if I can't do this then I can't save my family?"

"That's a bit blunt, but yes, if you can't push your power into your spheres then your family have no chance."

With this confirmed Scarlet seemed to have a new determination, and she started to form an Aura Sphere again.

"Let's do this!" She said.

"That's the Scarlet we know!" Hotaru said. Scarlet grinned at her for a second, which made the sphere snap back again.

"Ow!" She exclaimed again.

"Concentrate Scarlet." Alice said. The raven haired girl nodded, and once again started to form an Aura Sphere.

~X~X~X~

"(Man I am so bored...)"

"(That's the fifth time you've said that in the past ten seconds, Asher.)"

The Charmeleon stuck his tongue out at the Turtwig. "(Shut it Twiggy.)"

"(Are they always like this?)" Glaceon asked Blaze.

"(From what I've seen of them... yeah. But if you think they're bad, watch Eve.)" Blaze replied, gesturing to the Eevee. Aura and Glaceon both looked to the small fox-like Pokémon, and sweatdropped.

She was running around in circles chasing her own tail, and though she seemed dizzy she didn't seem to care, continuously running around and around.

"(Like trainer like Pokémon I guess.)" Aura said.

"(Too true. And this isn't the craziest these guys get either, right Tikamo?)" Blaze said. The small tiger just nodded, shy around the two new Pokémon. "(Tika, really? Don't be so shy!)"

"(I-I c-can't h-help it!)" Tikamo said, looking down.

"(I AM REALLY, REALLY BORED!)" Asher exclaimed.

"(SHUT UP!)" Turtwig yelled back.

"(How about _both_ of you shut up?)" Aura suggested.

"(I would shut up if we had something to do!)" The Charmeleon said, folding his arms. Turtwig rolled his eyes, hitting the larger Pokémon with a stubby leg.

"(Fine then.)" Glaceon said. "(Lets find something to do.)"

"(Like what?)" Blaze asked.

"(Ask Eve. She can normally find something to do.)" Turtwig said.

"(Um... where is the little Eevee?)" Aura said, looking to where the Pokémon had been chasing her tail only minute ago. She wasn't there anymore.

"(Ah crap, that can't be good.)" Asher said, standing up. "(We have to find her, she's a trouble magnet.)"

"(We're all trouble magnets, we travel with our danger magnet trainers!)" Turtwig said, hopping up onto his stubby legs.

"(Exactly! She's like the rest of us, including Mudkip and Bulbasaur, put together!)" Asher said. "(We need to find her!)"

"(Alright alright, man.)" Blaze said as he stood up. Aura and Glaceon did so too, and then they all ran off to find the troublesome Eevee.

~X~X~X~

"Stupid Gwen 'n' Gareth... how on earth did dey manage ta fall down deir own pit trap?-!" Meowth said as he walked around kicking rocks as he went. "Now I have ta find some rope ta help 'em out... ah well, at least dey got dat 'lil Eevee thing ta fall in too."

"(Come on guys! We gotta find her before she gets in deep shit!)" Asher's voice called out from the trees nearby.

"(You're as bad as your trainer with language!)" Turtwig answered.

"(Speak for yourself knucklehead!)"

"(Will you two stop arguing for one blasted minute?-!)" Aura said.

"(NO!)" They yelled back.

"(I give up... we've entered a mad house...)" Aura sighed.

"(You can say that again Aura...)" Glaceon said.

"Its da twerp Pokémon! But who're dose other two voices?" Meowth said. The group of Pokémon were then visible to the cat Pokémon. "A Lucario 'n' a Glaceon? I didn't fink da twerps had dat kinda Pokémon."

"(Where could that l-... holy crap its Team Rocket!)" Asher said, spotting Meowth. He got into a battle stance, along with Turtwig.

"(Team Rocket? You have those guys here too?)" Aura said.

"(Of course! Just because we're a different region and time don't mean Team Rocket is shut down! This bozo team has been annoying us since day one!)" Asher said, then looking back at Meowth. "(Where're your humans?-! What's ya scheme this time?-!)"

_'Hmm... if I can get dem to help meh out with Gwen 'n' Gareth den maybe we can snatch 'em all at the end...'_ Meowth thought, before saying aloud. "For yar information I've lost my humans ta deir own pit trap!"

"(Why doesn't that surprise me?)" Turtwig said, rolling his eyes.

"Shut ya yap! Because yar 'lil Eevee pal is in wid 'em too!"

"(Why don't that surprise me either?)" Turtwig said with a sweatdrop.

"Look! If ya help meh ya 'lil pal can go free!"

"(How do we know we can trust you?)" Glaceon said, not really trusting the scratch cat in the slightest.

"I swear on my own life!" Meowth said, unknown to the others hiding a pair of crossed stubby fingers behind his back. "Come on! I'll show ya'll where dey are!" He then said, running off.

"(Should we trust this guy?)" Aura asked.

"(Nope... but even if he does stab us in the back we can kick his butt easily!)" Asher said.

"(You're as big-headed as Scarlet can be.)" Blaze said, sighing at his fellow fire type. Asher stuck his tongue out at the tall chicken. "(You have a point though.)"

"OI! YOU GUYS!" Meowth called.

"(Let's follow the idiot.)" Turtwig sighed.

~X~X~X~

"Meowth! Get your butt back here and help us out!" Gwen yelled from the pitfall, looking up at the exit. Gareth sighed, sitting with Eve on his head, the small Pokémon totally oblivious as always as to what was actually going on, just hopping up and down on the blonde man's head over and over and over, annoying him to no end.

"He can't hear you Gwen." He said.

"He might be able to, idiot!" Gwen snapped back at him.

"(La~La~La~La!)" Eve hummed along to herself.

"I swear I am ready to kill this little thing..." Gareth sighed in annoyance. "Got a shovel handy?"

"Of course I haven't because _they're outside the pit trap_ you twit!" Gwen said.

"Hey you guys! I found sum help!" Meowth's voice then called from outside. A second later his head appeared in the hole.

"Finally! Now get us out!"

"Gimme a sec! We just gotta figure out how ta!" Meowth said, popping his head away again, and looking to the team of Pokémon. "Alright den gang-..."

"(Don't call us gang.)" Blaze said.

"Alright den _twerps_, now, how do we get 'em out?" Meowth said.

"(A rope?)" Asher said. Meowth facepawed.

"Ya think I wouldn't have tried dat already if I _had_ a rope?-!" He snapped. Asher thought about it for a moment.

"(...Good point.)"

"(So what?)" Glaceon said.

"(Um... how about this: Turtwig use Razor Leaf and cut down a tree branch, and Blaze you just pull one down, Asher you can help if you want. Then Glaceon can freeze them together, so we can reach them. It should hold.)" Aura suggested.

"Whoa, a twerp with a brain." Meowth said.

"(Hey! I resent that!)" Turtwig said.

"(You and your trainer resent everything! Shut up!)" Asher said, hitting the Turtwig around the back of the head.

"(Go snog Bunny or something.)" Turtwig said. Asher glared at him.

"(Can we please just concentrate on the actual task in hand?)" Glaceon said, sighing a little.

"(Right.)" The two Pokémon said.

"(Razor Leaf!)" Turtwig ordered himself, firing off the sharp, spinning leaves at a branch.

"(I'd never do something as simple as just pulling it down!)" Blaze said before roughly Sky Uppercut-ing a branch, making it fly in the air before it landed on the ground. Asher used a powered up Scratch and eventually made his way through a branch. Then they arranged the pieces in a line and Glaceon froze them to form one long branch they could use to reach the others. Blaze and Aura picked it up, dangling it down the hole.

"Finally!" Gwen said, grabbing it and climbing up it, kicking Gareth in the face in the process.

"Ow..." Gareth said before grabbing the branch too and climbing up after her. Eve sat on his head the whole time, giggling and 'la'-ing happily and obliviously to herself.

Once out of the hole, Meowth whispered something to the two humans.

"(I don't like this.)" Glaceon said when she saw this.

"Alright!" Gwen said, jumping with Gareth into their usual pose in front of the group.

"(Oh boy...)" Asher sighed.

Gareth: Prepare for trouble!  
Gwyneth: Make it double!  
Gareth: To protect the world from devastation!  
Gwyneth: To unite all peoples within our nation!  
Gareth: To denounce the evils of truth and love!  
Gwyneth: To extend our reach to the stars above!  
Gwyneth!  
Gareth!  
Gwyneth: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!  
Gareth: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!  
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

"(How did I know this was coming?)" Blaze sighed.

"(And now you're like Gem, but instead of Author stuff its Author's Pokémon stuff!)" Aura said.

"(Speak for yourself.)" Blaze said, rolling his eyes.

"We're going to capture you call and give you to the boss!" Gwen said.

"(We've heard this all before.)" Turtwig sighed. "(You won't catch us!)"

"He said we won't catch 'em." Meowth translated.

"We already have one of you!" Gareth said as he grabbed Eve, who giggled unaware.

"(Sugar she always gets us into deep crap...)" Asher groaned.

"(Never mind that let's just get her back!)" Blaze said, fist starting to glow with a Focus Punch.

"(No fighting moves in case you hit her, idiot! You're as bad as your trainer!)" Auberon's starter said.

"(You're just like yours too! You know everything about Pokémon Battles but nothing else! Sheesh!)" Asher said.

"(Don't make me bite you.)" Turtwig said with narrowed eyes.

"(Oh for goodness sake... let's stop arguing amongst ourselves and beat these guys!)" Aura said. "(Look, just one of us grab the Eevee and the rest attack!)"

"(...Good point.)" Asher said. "(Who though?)"

"(Who's fastest?)" Glaceon asked. Turtwig put up a stubby foot. "(Alright, now go!)"

"(Right!)" Turtwig, being Ash's Torterra's offspring's offspring, had the speed that he had had when he'd been a Turtwig **(I think he was fast... I haven't watched Sinnoh in a while...)**, managed to dash quickly and grab Eve right from Gareth's hands.

"(Twiggggggy!)" Eve giggled as he grabbed her in his mouth and ran toward the others again.

"HEY!" Gareth yelled, waving his fist around.

"(Now everyone attack!)" Aura said, preparing an Aura Sphere. Glaceon prepared an Ice Beam, Blaze a Flamethrower, and Asher a Flamethrower.

"Crap." Meowth said.

The four attacks hit them all at once, and...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" *ting!*

"(WHOOOOOHOOOO!)" Asher cheered, doing an exaggerated 'kerching'.

"(Let's just get back to our trainers.)" Glaceon said with a sweatdrop.

~X~X~X~

"Hey guys, where have you been?" Gem asked from her tree, everyone had come back and the tea party was cleared up but she still hadn't come down.

"(I'll explain to you later.)" Blaze laughed. "(You have no idea how crazy today has been for us.)"

"Oh boy... I gotta hear this." Gem laughed.

~X~X~X~

**Me: How was that? I really need an opinion on the Pokémon part, as it was practice for a side project of mine I'm going to do on DA. Well, one more part of this left! R&R!**


	43. Ep 42: Switcheroo Pt 4

**Me: Here we go again! Last part of the special! Near the end of this chapter Indi and Jas are back and it'll be great to see what they've been up to! (Not that I haven't seen already, I kept an eye on 'em). I just wish I had a plan for what to happen before then though! *facepalm***

**Episode 42- Switcheroo Pt. 4**

**"Last chapter we got an insight into what the Pokémon get up to when left alone! And we also saw how crazy Nevee can actually get! Now we join everyone as they pack up ready to get moving toward Veilstone again."**

"Gee, state the obvious!" Scarlet said.

**"I only say what I'm told to! I wish they'd pay the ransom already..."**

"You're still holding him to ransom?" Nathen said to Gem. Gem just shrugged.

"They haven't paid, and its useful keeping him around, though I can see why they don't want him back sometimes." She said the last bit with a snicker. Everyone heard a loud sigh from the sky.

"How did you hold him to ransom in the first place?" Auberon asked. "Weren't you like, fourteen at the time?"

"Technically I still am only fifteen now, despite being thirtyish in body as I've lived her a while, but never mind that. Well, basically I am all powerful, you have no idea how shocked he was when he saw a real Pokémon in the human-animal world. That and I threatened to do something I will not mention if he didn't come." Gem said. Everyone gave her a weird look. "What?"

"You are completely unique, and I don't mean it in a good way." Auberon said. Gem smacked him around the back of the head.

"That's my job!" Scarlet said.

"Be my guest, do it again." Gem said, folding her arms. Scarlet grinned and smacked him again.

"Hey!" The elf protested.

"(I honestly worry about how similar you guys' Pokémon are to you...)" Blaze said with a sweatdrop. Eve giggled from on top of Nevee's head. "(I know Pokémon and trainers are supposed to be similar in personality, but this is ridiculous!)"

"(Ah shuddup.)" Asher said from beside Scarlet, before the girl then returned him.

"Why was he still out?" Nathen asked. Scarlet shrugged.

"He let himself out. I need a lock for the Poké Ball. He does it a lot." Scarlet said. "He doesn't do it as much as he used to though, and before it was a lot at night."

Nathen and Gem both laughed remembering the incident that scared him when he was a Charmander.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"How long will it take for the others to get back here?" Auberon asked. Gem sighed and shrugged.

"I haven't got a clue. The Device is officially busted and in hell, as I said, so not only am _I _stuck here, only able to get to my Viridian City Room, but Nathen and Alice and Jaspa and Indigo are all stuck where they are too."

"Gee, some authoress you are." Scarlet said. "You can't even look after your own characters!"

"Author's aren't always all powerful, kids, they are only human too after all, they can make mistakes." Alice said from by Nathen's side, looking at him.

"Too true, we're not all perfect you know. Just like you guys aren't." The Author replied. Gem nodded in agreement.

"I just tend to make a lot more mistakes than others." She said.

"Oh so true." Hotaru laughed. Gem glared at her.

"But speaking of getting back, I think I-..." Nathen started, when he was cut off.

"NEVEE!" Scarlet and Auberon both yelled when she ran off into the trees, for no apparent reason.

"Oh boy... here we go again..." Gem sighed. "Guys, go after her please, you never know what might happen to her."

"(This is ridiculous... she's doing just what Eve did!)" Blaze said, facepalming. Gem would have gone to pat his shoulder, but with him being 6'ft something, and her barely 5'ft, she didn't even try it.

"Go get her guys." She said to Scarlet and Auberon.

"Why not the other two?" Auberon whined.

"Because they're our guests! Go!" Gem ordered. And since they couldn't really argue with their Authoress's order, they ran off. Auberon burst after her first, but just as Scarlet was about to run after him they could hear someone.

"Well well, look who we have here." A female voice said, sounding as if she were smirking. Hotaru and Lucy both immediately tensed up, getting into battle stances.

"Jenni..." Hotaru snarled.

"Hello again Hotaru. I didn't realise that ghosts could be so real looking." The voice continued. Everyone's eyes darted around, looking for the source of the voice, all realising this was TUA.

Alice had clutched onto Nathen's arm, Lucy was half hidden behind Hotaru, Gem was in a defensive stance in front of them all and Scarlet was just standing at the edge of the path, stunned.

"Show yourself!" Lucy barked. Two familiar grunts walked out into view, the 'male' holding a device that was projecting a full body hologram of Jenni.

"Quincey and Rin..." Lucy said, looking at Scarlet from the corner of her eye to see her reaction, as they all knew it had been them that took Ash and May. Scarlet was still blank, even when seeing the three people who had taken away her closest family members.

"Hello again." Rin said, smirking.

"What're you doing here?-!" Hotaru snarled. Lucy grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from charging forward.

"Just popping by, oh, and these two are here for the Ketchum." Jenni's hologram said, waving an indifferent hand.

"Don't even think about it!" Nathen said.

"Oh, and who do we have here?" Jenni said. "Rin, Aura Read."

"Of course Commander." Rin said, closing her eyes. "The male's is very, very strong... the female's, not so much."

"Don't even think of adding us to your target list, we're going to be gone soon enough anyway." Nathen growled.

"Oh don't worry; we have bigger targets than a couple of idiots. Quincey, Rin, you know what to do." Jenni said before her hologram flickered and disappeared, Quincey shoving the device into his pocket.

"Well well, looks like we're going to have quite a battle on our hands." Rin said, looking at the group of aura users – remember, Gem can use it too – in front of her and her partner. "How about we make this a little more interesting?"

"I don't have a good !" Gem suddenly shrieked at the end of her sentence as she was grabbed by an aura rope.

"Gem!" Everyone, yes, even Scarlet called her Gem, yelled at once.

Rin smirked, holding the small Authoress up easily with the rope wrapped around her torso/arms, she was attempting, and failing, to struggle.

"Let me go!" The authoress screamed.

"I don't think so." Quincey said in that unnaturally high voice of his. "Rin, let's get out of here."

"Took the words right out of my mouth, partner." Rin said, then looking to the others again. "If you want your stupid Authoress back then you'll have to come and find us." She told them before she and her partner, and the struggling Gem, disappeared somehow.

"Teleported I can bet." Lucy said. "I sometimes wish they never developed the teleporters..."

"We have to go after them." Nathen said.

"Right, who knows what they'll do." Alice said.

"Gem honestly does have a strong aura too, and its red, so if we don't save her they might just wipe her mind and then recruit her." Nathen said. Hotaru nodded, knowing full well they would, she only remembered the day she was taken because of them, and she had a feeling maybe it was a similar story with the two guests from the past.

"How come she's never helped me train then?" Scarlet asked.

"She has her own responsibilities, she couldn't risk missing something important with the others I guess, but that's not important right now, we have to find those grunts."

"Um... they were actually promoted to Soldier recently, Nathen." Lucy said. "Right after they got hold of Ash and May."

"Great... well, Scarlet, its lucky we taught you how to power up your spheres. Lucy, Hotaru, you two stay here and wait for Auberon and Nevee, tell them we've gone to beat off Team Rocket, don't mention TUA at all." Nathen told them.

"Why is it I currently feel like you're the boss?" Hotaru said as she climbed up a tree and sat on a branch.

"I think Gem may have given me temporary author powers whilst she's captured, she's smart enough to know that TUA could ask her to do anything with her powers whilst they have her." Nathen explained.

"Oh, well that makes sense I guess."

"Come on, let's get out of here and find them." Alice said.

"Right!" Scarlet nodded.

"You seem eager, I thought you hated her?" Nathen said.

"She's not so bad sometimes, she can be a good friend in times of need I guess." Scarlet said, sounding honest. "That and the fact without her we're stuffed, she tells us everything! Plus we wouldn't be able to get into her TM room!" She then added, back to her old self.

Nathen chuckled. "Alright, now let's go."

~X~X~X~

"You guys are dumber than I thought!" Gem said from inside a cage. "Are you honestly going to wait for a bunch of strong aura users, with maximum of _three_ of them higher ranked than you depending on how many of them come?-!"

"Oh shut up. I can see why they call you big mouth." Rin said, mock yawning at the short authoress. A vein started pulsing on Gem's temple, and she considered firing an Aura Sphere at them, but knew that that was what they wanted, a reason to fight and dispose of her.

"You know my friends will help me don't you?" She said.

"Oh yeah, right, as if they'll beat us." Quincey said. "We caught a Ketchum!"

"Because you threatened his wife." Gem said. "You wouldn't have managed if they were both Aura Users."

"Jenni got four of them."

"Again, she threatened Ruby's family. Sure, I'll give her she's one of the strongest commanders, but Ruby could have kicked her butt if it wasn't for her threatening Peter and then her kids." Gem said. Rin's temple vein pulsed now.

"Shut up before I use force!" Rin said.

"Whatever." Gem said. _I sure hope Nathen realises he now has my author powers temporarily... my newest control where I can control a character's exact movements without their consent could come in handy here..._

"Um, three aura signatures coming our way Rin." Quincey said. "They'll be here any second."

"Told ya they'd come." Rin glared at the authoress, before the others burst into the area.

"Team Universal Aura stop right there!" Scarlet said.

"Here's the little rescue party." Rin snickered. "Well, if you want to save her you have to beat one of us."

"Easy." Nathen said, aura sphere forming in his hand, Alice not far behind him. But suddenly the two were surrounded by an Aura Shield, keeping them inside, any aura used would only be absorbed. "What the?-!"

"Oh please, how dumb do you take us for? We're fighting someone less experienced, not someone with Aura at your level of strength and control." Rin said, rolling her eyes, then looking to Scarlet.

"M-Me?" Scarlet stuttered, pointing at herself. Rin nodded.

"On these terms: You win, you get back your stupid Authoress. You lose, you and your other friends come with us."

Scarlet froze, that feeling of weakness coming over her again. Alice saw this before Nathen did.

"Scarlet!" She called. The girl looked to her. "You can do this, Scarlet! Come on! It's for this kind of reason we taught you the power boost! You can beat that stupid Soldier! Just like you'll be able to save your parents!"

"Yeah, listen to Alice Scarlet!" Nathen said. Scarlet was still just blank for a moment, but then Nathen seemed to blink for a longer time than normal, and she smiled determined, nodding and looking back to Rin.

"Bring it on!" She said confidently. Rin just rolled her eyes again, and formed a Sphere in her hand. Scarlet formed her own, and just as Rin threw hers she jumped up and threw her own.

"Looks like Hotaru's speed training paid off." Nathen said.

Rin narrowly dodged the sphere and threw an Aura Dagger, not meant to be harmless like Nathen's had been in the practice battle with Hotaru, straight at Scarlet's head. But luckily Scarlet made a small shield just in front of her head that absorbed it, and then made a rope from her Aura and threw it at Rin, grabbing her arm with it. Rin went to cut it with another dagger but Scarlet threw one of her powered up Sphere's, hitting the blonde Soldier right in the stomach. Rin doubled over, falling to her knees.

"Rin!" Quincey shrieked.

"Good one Scarlet!" Gem called from the cage. She then blew the lock of her cage open and climbed out. With Rin down the shield around Nathen and Alice fell, and they all ran out. "Ready to blow these guys away?"

"Hell yeah!" Scarlet said. All four formed a sphere, and threw it at the duo. You can guess what happened next.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE BLASTING OFF LIKE ROCKET AGAIN!" Both screamed. *ting!*

"Whoop!" Gem cheered, high fiving the others. "Now that just proves all Ketchum's are awesome at this shit!"

"Hypocrite." Scarlet laughed. Gem rolled her eyes playfully at this.

~X~X~X~

"You took a while." Gem said as Auberon ran back, panting heavily, with Nevee behind him.

"You have... no idea... how fast... she can run..." Auberon got out between pants.

"Actually I do." Gem said, thinking back to Oreburgh City. (I believe it was there, but I can hardly remember back that far!)

"Well, anyway, before that happened weren't you gonna say something Nathen?" Hotaru asked. Nathen nodded, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a watch. Gem gasped a little, nodding when she realised what he had in mind.

"Good idea Nathen. I can't believe I forgot you had that thing." She said, facepalming.

"What is it?" Auberon asked.

"It's my own transportation device, like Gem's, but a lot more compact and a lot more reliable." Nathen explained. "So... we can get back to my story, and I can send Indigo and Jaspa right back here."

"Good! How come you didn't say about this before?" Scarlet asked.

"I guess I forgot." Nathen said. "But what's important is we can get home. Alice, I'll send you on ahead, and then I'll get to my control room, that way I can send Jaspa and Indigo back."

"Alright." Alice said. "Guess this is goodbye then guys." She added, looking to the others.

"Guess so. Good luck in Pokoh and bringing down TUA, you'll need it." Gem said.

"Thanks for the confidence Gem." Nathen said with a chuckle. "It's not like you won't be popping in to check on things, and of course Trayton and Amber."

"True." Gem shrugged.

"Good luck." Scarlet said, hugging Alice and shaking hands with Nathen. Auberon shook hands with both of them and Nevee just waved hyperactively. Hotaru and Lucy both told them good luck, shaking their hands.

"Alright, now time to send Alice." Nathen said, then pressing a button on the watch, Alice disappearing.

"Whoa, that was fast." Scarlet said. Nathen chuckled, and then with a wave disappeared too.

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Gem counted down.

And right on cue Indigo and Jaspa reappeared.

"Welcome back guys." Gem laughed.

~X~X~X~

**Me: And there's the end of the special! We still have a long road until Veilstone City too, so I still have a lot to fit in. R&R!**


	44. Ep 43: Back together and just in time

**Me: Time to find out what went on in Nathen's story! Unless you read it you won't know yet, so here we go!**

**Episode 43- Back together... and just in time.**

**"Last chapter we saw everyone return back to their rightful places! Indigo and Jaspa are back with the main groups... and it seems we have a new addition or two."**

"I SWEAR I THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY TRAYTON'S DEVIRE WHO DID THIS TO MEEEEEE!" Gem yelled as she ran around, being chased by one of the two new Pokémon on the team. Jaspa was, surprisingly, trying to contain laughter at the sight, Indigo was facepalming repeatedly, Scarlet was rolling on the floor laughing along with Auberon and Nevee was giggling.

The offender was a small Pokémon with a red body, and its chest has a black spike protruding from it, it tail is short with a pointed arrow end and its has horns and small, beady black eyes... though the eyes seemed very cheeky and mischievous right about now.

"Way to go Devire!" Jaspa chuckled. Indigo facepalmed a few more times before sighing and grabbing her newest full Poké Ball.

"Aquagelic, come on out and calm your little pal down." She said as she expanded and threw it. Out popped a small Pokémon, its body seems to flow out into a dress and it's a very pale blue. It has a golden halo atop its head that can be used like a Frisbee or Boomerang. Its eyes are large and gold. Aquagelic sighed and used Psychic on Devire, only to restrain him from running after the authoress.

"Dev!"

"Gelic! Aquagel!" Aquagelic scolded him, letting the psychic off.

"I am totally getting out of here the next chance I get." Gem sighed. "But I'm still stuck here..."

"Are we gonna go and sit down?-! I wanna know what happened when they were gone!" Scarlet said as she stood up.

"Alright, man! Impatient or what?" Gem sighed again, clicking her fingers and making them appear in a small clearing.

"What the hell...?" Auberon said. Gem smirked.

"I can travel small distances with just that, Auberon. I could easily transport you somewhere and make you lost if I feel evil enough," She said, with a slightly sinister tone.

"I'm scared now... AUTHORESS IS BACK OUT TO GET ME!" Auberon screamed.

"Oh boy, back to hilarity." Indigo laughed.

_**Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!**_

"Where did you guys actually end up?"

"Pokoh region, in the past, and possibly in a totally different story universe to ours anyway." Indigo replied. "Authoress, you better be prepared to die."

"Oh shut up! I didn't even mean to do it! Blame my shitty device!" Gem said. "Thank the lord it is now completely dead!"

"Not thank the lord more like, now we can't get rid of you!" Scarlet said.

"You mean you are honestly stuck here?" Indigo said. Gem nodded. "Damn... ah well, gives us more time to kill you."

"Dear god I thought flippin' Vahn, Karina and the others might have been good enough friends to you in your time there that you wouldn't want to kill me when you got back..." Gem groaned.

"How do you know who we were with?" Jaspa asked a little suspiciously.

"I read and take part in that story, idiot! Didn't they mention they knew me?"

"Oh, right..."

"Mr. Knowitall didn't think about something for once! Oh my god! It's a sign of the apocalypse!" Auberon gasped in mock shock. (Hey! That Rhymes! XD) Jaspa gave him a death glare, only to hear a cough, or two coughs to be exact, making him sigh and stop.

_One of these days that glare will actually kill... and I mean that literally..._Gem thought with a sigh.

"Well, fill us in on everything that happened then!" Scarlet said. "Come on! Spill! I wanna know every last detail that happened!"

Jaspa and Indigo both immediately thought of a conversation each they both definitely wanted to leave out, making both their cheeks tint a bit red. Indigo's from pure embarrassment, Jaspa's from slight embarrassment, but inside he was feeling a bit more angry and anxious at the topic of the conversation he was thinking of. Scarlet immediately made her own assumptions about the blushes, and giggled.

"Did you two do something?" She asked teasingly. Jaspa and Indigo immediately went deeper red, and both glared at Scarlet.

"SHUT UP!" They both yelled at once making everyone burst out laughing.

"Oh calm down, she was only messing!" Lucy laughed. "Don't worry about it! She's like that, you guys know that!"

"We've gotten too used to being around _sane _people during our time in Pokoh, thank you!" Indigo said, still red. "Plus, their story actually had a PLOT going on!"

"Ow, that one stung, Indigo." Gem said, "I'm working on it, I'm working on it, I do have a plot but it just doesn't always come into every chapter!"

"I guess..." Indigo sighed.

"What plot happened then? Come on, just spill! Or I'll keep teasing!" Scarlet said, sounding dead serious about the last bit. Indigo and Jaspa sighed.

"Well, look, to put most of it simply the first day was just getting to know the others, the second day is when we caught our new Pokémon, and the third... absolute chaos ensued." Indigo said. "I'm not sure if we should say what happened..."

"I know what happened, just tell us what you feel comfortable telling us, okay?" Gem said. Indigo nodded.

"Well... we had a run in with TUA... they weren't after us... but they were after some of the new people we met..."

"TUA?-! Did you find out anything about them?-!" Scarlet said urgently. Indigo sighed.

"Not much, they must have similar goals but... I don't know if everything that happened there applies here, plus it was a different region..." Indigo sighed. "But they are even more serious where we were..."

"Oh..." Scarlet said.

"What were the people like?" Auberon asked. "Ya didn't meet the ones Authoress visits did ya?"

"If they had they wouldn't be sane anymore." Gem sighed.

"And they are now?" Lucy said, earning a glare of Indigo. "What? No one here is sane! You're second sanest but still!"

"Who's first?" Hotaru asked.

"Jaspa. He's too sane to be honest; he needs to crazy up a bit!" Lucy said, this time getting a glare off Jaspa that Indigo quickly made him stop. "What? It's true!"

"You need to shut up, Lu'," Gem said. "You really, really do." Lucy shrugged, leaning back, making her fall off the log she was sat on.

"That's Karma at work, that is." Jaspa said, glaring at her for a second more again.

"Since when did all factual Jaspa believe in Karma?" Auberon said. Jaspa just shrugged at him, falling back silent again.

_Believe me, Auberon, when you know the supernatural is real and you're experiencing it... fate, destiny and even magic don't seem that farfetched..._He thought to himself, sighing mentally. Then suddenly he felt something, something he knew he should have noticed the second he arrived back in this story universe, something one of his gifts was telling him. _Shit... Not again..._

~X~X~X~

_Ruby's Home, Pallet Town_

Jasper walked into the house after a long week out on the road again to Viridian, no contact with any TVs or anything, so he didn't actually know about Ruby and the others disappearance.

"Ruby? Ru'?" He called into the house, seeing no sign of anyone. The living room was empty, the TV was left on a kiddie channel but no one was watching it. "Weird... Maybe they went out and forgot to turn it off? No... Peter would make sure it was off... this isn't a good sign..."

He scanned the house with Aura, finding nothing at first, when...

"Shit!" He exclaimed when he saw two unfamiliar Auras in the room he was in, but he had seen no one there before. In an instant he had a shield up around himself that blocked two aura spheres that headed his way. "Show yourselves!"

"Why are all Ketchums so... so... Ketchum?" An _un_familiar female voice said.

"Maybe because they are _Ketchums_, Niamh." Another _un_familiar male voice added, sounded a bit exasperated.

"Oh shut up, Weston." The female voice said.

"I said SHOW YOURSELVES!" Jasper yelled, snarling. There was a snicker from nowhere, before the owners of the voices appeared. It most definitely wasn't Quincey and Rin, if the voices weren't proof enough.

The girl looked no older than sixteen, she had blonde hair with black highlights, and a fringe that covered most of her forehead. She wears a purple, woolly turtleneck shirt with a black jacket over the top, with purple silk lining, and a pair of silk purple gloves. On her legs she wore a black pair of 'jeggings', with a pair of purple woolly ugg boots on her feet. She has a large purple UA symbol on the back of her black jacket. In her hand she had a lightly colored piece of wood, that vaguely resembled a wand but much more intricately patterned with what seemed to be an ancient language and ancient depictions of Pokémon Jasper recognized from the Pokoh Region Ruins.

The boy, or should I say man, looked around twenty years old. He had mid-neck length black hair with a purple fringe, and wore a purple dress shirt, with silver cufflinks in the shape of a U and an A, and a black scarf over it. On his legs he had a pair of black dress pants, with a pair of black shoes with purple insides.

"Now then, which Ketchum do we have here?" Weston said, folding his arms. "By the looks of it... you must be Jasper Ketchum, the lone male of the second currently alive generation of the Ketchums."

"And you must be TUA." Jasper said with venom. "You took my parents! And let me guess, you also have my niece, nephew, sister and brother-in-law!"

"Of course we do. But we weren't the exact ones who took them, we've just been dispatched to find the rest. Well, not find exactly, just to capture, grunts and recruits are the ones who do all the searching for us." Niamh said, waving a dismissive hand. Jasper looked at her incredulously.

"What is a girl like you doing in TUA? You're only sixteen at the most! You're not exactly a victim of the ugly tree, either, you could have a lot more than that in life!" The eighteen year old said. Niamh seemed to flinch for a second, but otherwise kept her cool disposition.

"TUA is my life. This is what I want. This is all I need. My aura is strong, I am one of the Auracian race, just like you! You could be one of us, so much stronger!" Niamh said, though Jasper couldn't help but think she didn't mean a word she was saying. _I don't like this at all, my old friend... you're lucky you don't recognize me, or I couldn't take this anymore... I don't want to die, I don't want my family to die... oh why didn't I just allow my body to reject that damn implant?-!_

"Niamh, we need to just deal with the target and get him to the base. No time for small talk." Weston said with a small smirk. Niamh nodded one, and held out the stick in her hand at Jasper.

"A stick?" Jasper said, raising an eyebrow in typical Ketchum fashion.

"I may have had my aura awakened, but I am unable to control it easily. Believe me, Ketchum this 'stick' is anything but a worthless piece of wood." Niamh said, before the stick began to glow a pink color and a pink Aura Sphere appeared at the end of it. Jasper's eyes widened, and because of his shock he didn't have time to retaliate.

A cry of pain rang out for only a second, before something silenced it.

~X~X~X~

**Me: There we go! Another chapter at last! And this is my first one being Beta-Read by someone, so there might be less grammar mistakes than usual! Thanks to Final Heir for offering to beta-read it! Anyway, starts off happy enough, then onto that last bit... we'll have more explanation about Niamh later on. Well, R&R!**


	45. Ep 44: Reluctance

**Me: Here we go! Time to get them back on the road, and time to get more info on what's going on with Jasper and what this 'Niamh' character meant with what she was thinking before! I'll let ya know, I didn't even plan what I had her think at all! It just came out! XD Well, anyway, in short this chapter will be mainly devoted to Niamh, Weston, Jasper and TUA in general, but with some insights into the others... or maybe only the one. Well, we'll see!**

**Episode 44- Reluctance**

**"Last chapter we got a brief explanation of what happened when our two heroes ended up in a different story, whilst something else seemed to have happened that no one else knows of..."**

"When are we getting moving again?" Indigo asked as she and Jaspa finished washing up plates of food the group had just had.

"ASAP," Gem said. "We need to get a few miles covered at least, as we don't have long until nightfall and with how long this route is we need to keep making ground."

"Great... night walking." Auberon sighed.

"Why're you complaining? You have elfy vision and senses!" Scarlet said. Auberon glared at her. "What?"

"All that does not mean I like night walking." He hissed. Scarlet sweatdropped.

"You guys..." Indigo said with a chuckle. She sat down, with Jaspa not far behind her, only for Jaspa to wince a bit as he sat, something unusual for him. "Jaspa?"

"There's something in my pocket..." He said, reaching into his trouser pocket and finding a watch-like device, holding it up, surprisingly it didn't seem damaged from his weight, which most likely meant he was not currently in any slightly transformed state, so no gifts, so he couldn't tell what was happening to Jasper.

Gem's eyes widened seeing this, recognising it instantly, "Oh my god that's one of Nathen's watch devices! He must have left it with you to bring here!" She exclaimed, reaching out to grab it. But Jaspa _still_ had quicker reflexes, and he pulled it back immediately. "Oi! Give it here!"

"I don't think I will. We still need time to kill you, you're staying right here." Jaspa said. Gem scowled, and tried to use her control on him, the one where he had no say in the matter, but something seemed to push it back.

_Dammit... why does that power always work on him even when he's not in his semi-transformed state?_ Gem sighed in her head. She then sighed aloud. "Oh fine! But man, I swear I will get that damn thing and I will get to somewhere safe from you!"

"Right, right, believe that when it happens," Indigo said, rolling her eyes. Gem growled.

"Cookies!"

Everyone groaned.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"You... You let me out... r-right... now..." Jasper Ketchum weakly grunted out as he was thrown into a cell.

"I don't think so, Ketchum," Weston said with a smirk. "And don't even think about trying to escape, we know and you know that you are no longer in any state to do so."

Jasper grunted again, but knew that the Elite was right, he'd hit his head when he fell, plus he had a wound on his stomach that made it nearly impossible to sit up, not helped by the three broken ribs he had. Niamh's aura really was strong, stronger than Jasper had expected, even of an Elite TUA agent. If he could read it right now, he was sure it would be at least ¾ of the strength of his, which was pretty damn strong.

"Weston, you should go report to the Leaders we have another Ketchum. Master and Mistress Target will want an official report, and you know I always mess them up." Niamh said, giving her partner Lillipup eyes. Weston chuckled slightly, ruffling the younger Elite's hair.

"Alright Ni, I'll go give them the Official Report. Not much to report, but we have to do it I guess." He said, walking to the door of the cell room, placing his hand on a scanner and making the door open after it scanned his aura, and then walked out of the room toward the lifts that would take him to the top floor of the building. After checking he was gone, Niamh dropped her cold act and ran into Jasper's cell as quick as she could, placing a hand on his ribcage, making him cringe in pain.

"Sorry Jasp, but I have to touch you to heal you, be brave like you always were before." Niamh said, trying to pulse her aura down into her hand but failing. "Shit! Damn my stupid Aura!"

"Wh-Why're you helping me...?" Jasper asked weakly, not seeming to hear the nickname she called him.

"Because, Jasp, I am not like the other TUA members... my aura, its colour... it's a rare colour, pink is rarely seen in anyone, it means that I attract people easily, that I can manipulate people... they needed me, so they took me... look, I don't have time for all this now, I need to heal you before the other members come here to check on you and the others!"

"Others...?" Jasper asked hopefully, perking up interest. Niamh nodded, rooting in her small bag for her wand.

"Your family is in here, but the cells here are different than other cells that teams use, they're either made of thick concrete or metal walls, or indestructible soundproof glass, so they can't hear you, or anything from the outside unless their door is open." She said, grasping her wand.

"Why... are they... still in cells...? Wouldn't you all... have them... working by... by now...?" Niamh shook her head at this, gently putting the tip of her wand against his ribcage.

"No, they all refuse to join us, no matter how hard they are threatened, I believe once someone showed an illusion of that woman's children being hurt, but still she wouldn't budge."

"Ruby always... was a... stubborn one..." Jasper sighed, wincing a bit from the wand.

"Stay still now, I'm going to heal those ribs Jasp." Niamh said then, the wand regaining that pink glow it had before, this time a pink pulsing wave leaving it and going over the injured area of his ribcage and his stomach wound. Jasper winced a bit at first, but after that he felt no pain as he was healed. It took a minute or two, but Niamh then retracted her wand from his side, and gave him a small smile. "There we go, all fixed up. Now, to heal your head, you might have concussion so it better to be safe than sorry."

"Really... why... are you doing this?" Jasper asked, sitting up, feeling a bit sore but otherwise now fine. Niamh pointed the wand at the back of the young adult's head, knowing the perfect spot for anything to do with aura as she remembered where something had been planted in her own head. The pulsing began again.

"Jasp... don't you remember me at all?" Niamh said, sounding a little hurt and letting her concentration on the healing fail for a second, making Jasper let out a hissed 'Ow!' as the healing momentarily reversed itself, "Sorry... but please, Jasper, try and remember me, you were my best friend..."

Jasper looked up at the girl, straight into her dark blue eyes, whilst she stared right back into his deep auburn ones. Jasper continued to stare for a minute, before he found something familiar in her eyes, and a flash of a memory from many years back came to him.

_"Jasp! Come on!" A young girl, of no older than six, giggled as she ran down the road in Pallet Town. Young Jasper was running after her, laughing with her and attempting to catch her._

_"Slow down Ni-Ni!"_

_"Nu-Uh! Dontcha know ya always have to let a girl win Jasp?" Niamh giggled, her blonde hair flowing out behind her. Jasper shook his head._

_"No way am I losing to a girl!" He said, speeding up and overtaking her. Niamh's eyes widened before she pouted and ran faster too, trying not to trip over the blue dress her mother had made her wear. _

_They ran for a long time, swapping lead every now and again as one or the other sped up more and more, before they entered a forest that would soon lead up toward Viridian._

_"Ni-Ni, I think we should go back!" Jasper called when they entered the trees, slowing down a bit. Niamh looked to him and shook her head._

_"No way! I'm carrying on! If you wanna be a scaredy Glameow then go back home!" She called back before running faster._

_"Niamh! No! Mommy and Daddy said there are bad people being sighted out here! Niamh!" Jasper yelled before running after her as fast as he could. But when he stopped, he had seen no sign of his friend at all, she was gone. "NIAMH! NI-NI! NIAMH! COME ON! COME ON! WHERE ARE YOU?-!"_

"N-Ni-Ni..." Jasper gasped, sitting up fully quickly and making Niamh lose her concentration again, making him fall back and hit his head again. "Ow!"

"So sorry Jasp!" Niamh exclaimed. "So Sorry!"

"N-Niamh... I... I was worried..." Jasper said as he sat up and looked at her. Niamh sighed.

"I'm sorry..."

"What happened to you, Niamh? Where did you disappear off to?" Jasper continued, grabbing her hand. Niamh pulled it away, and put her wand in a special hold on her belt now.

"Guess..."

~X~X~X~

"Give it up, Authoress." Jaspa said, hearing Gem about to try and sneak into his bag again.

"Dammit! I hate you guys like you hate me sometimes!" Gem scowled, stamping her foot once before storming ahead of the boy, all the way to the front of the group.

"I don't think that's possible, no one could hate anyone as much as we hate you." Scarlet said, giggling. Gem sighed.

"I cannot believe my own characters hate me..." She groaned, knocking her head off one of her fists. _Ah shit something bad has happened, I just know it... and I bet Jas does too... man he better tell me who's been taken... it has to be that or I probably wouldn't have felt it from down here..._

"Well, ya better believe it because it's tooootally true!" Nevee giggled, "I don't though!" She added quickly. Gem smiled a bit.

"I know you don't, Nevee."

"She'll come around eventually." Auberon said, earning a glare off Gem, and strangely one off Nevee. "O... kay...?"

Jaspa sighed, grabbing Indigo's hand as subtly as he could when he saw the unusual glare his twin used, it was slight, but he knew what this was a sign of. Indigo squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Look, let's stop arguing about that shit and hurry the hell up! I already told you, we have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall!" Gem said a bit sharply, "I don't want to come to using my powers to FORCE you to follow, so you can't even try and fight back, so hurry the HELL up!"

"What's gotten into you? Even you're never this bossy!" Scarlet said.

"I'm just going into an irritable mood, okay? Just come on!"

~X~X~X~

"Team Universal Aura?"

"Yes... they took me... they saw me alone and they took me... its... a long story... I can't explain everything just by saying what happened that day, there's so much more that is needed to make it all make sense..." Niamh said. "And I don't know how much time we have before someone comes..."

"Lock the room then."

"Uh... I don't think that'd be a good idea... they'd know something was up if I just wouldn't let them in!" Niamh said, giving him a look.

"Well, lock it and tell them it's malfunctioned."

"They'd test it."

"Fine then, let me out for a second and I'll make it malfunction! You can say you tried to open it but you accidentally pulsed too much aura in! I have more than you, I can break it easy!" Jasper said, about to stand up.

"No! You leave this cell and a million alarms are set off!"

"How do they know it's not just you?"  
"Aura, duh! Everything in this damn place is activated, deactivated, and everything-else-ated by Aura! I think the only electricity here is to damn control the light bulbs and other stuff that can't be worked on aura! And even then if there's a short out we use Aura Copied Pokémon moves to charge everything up for a while until its fixed!"

"Well, if Aura is so amazing to this place, then can't you copy or store an Aura Move of mine to blow the damn door lock?" Jasper suggested, gesturing to her wand. "If I'm right, then that's a specially designed item for Aura, it should have more features than even extremely advanced aura users do."

"I don't know... I've only copied something once... and that wasn't someone's exact aura signature and move..." Niamh said unsurely, holding her wand. Jasper put his finger on the tip.

"Try it, you don't know until you try," He said with a warm smile, his finger lightly glowing blue. "I've never had to use one finger to use a powerful move, but I'll still try it."

"Fine... you've convinced me." Niamh said, playfully acting annoyed. Jasper smiled. "Alright then, pulse your best aura into this, don't worry about it exploding everywhere because this _should_ absorb it all straight away."

"You really aren't giving me any faith in this, which is awkward when this is my own idea..." Jasper sweatdropped. Niamh rolled her eyes playfully, and let her Wand light up pink again. Jasper pulsed blue aura into his finger, the wand absorbing the power. It took a good few minutes, or what felt like it, before it stopped.

"Good, all done. Now, I'll be back in a minute, I just have to go work this thing. They won't even be able to see that it's not my aura I'm using from the cameras, then I can blow them as well." Niamh said, standing up, going over to the door and opening it with a code she still shielded from Jasper's eyes still, and then she walked out.

She walked over to the door, putting back on her TUA act as she did so, pressing her wand's tip to a small indent on it, pulsing her aura, mixed with the power Jasper had put in it, into the Aura Lock to open the door, before it began sparking, as well as all the other wires connected to it – CCTV wires for the room, microphones in the room, things like that – but she didn't realise how it also locked the cells automatically.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Niamh exclaimed, genuinely as she hadn't expected so much sparking. She fell onto her ass, yelping a bit but otherwise fine.

"_Elite Niamh? Elite Niamh? Do you hear me? What just happened?-!_" A voice said through her earpiece. She turned on her microphone.

"I think I just blew the circuits in this room!"

"_Man, you Implantees really are uncontrollable in the aura department aren't you? Alright, it'll be a couple of hours or more before the team can fix it up, so you'll be stuck in there a while. Hope you like your own company!_"

"Thanks Smithy, thanks a bunch." Niamh said sarcastically to the radio operator, before cutting off her microphone and standing up, going back over to the cells and trying to open the door with the code, but it wouldn't work. "Shit... how didn't I remember that the doors lock when the circuits blow? Shit! Now how do I talk to Jasp...? Oh, wait, Aura, no duh durr brain!" Niamh sighed, sitting down with her back against the cell where Jasper was, closing her eyes as she rested her head against the door. _'Hey...'_

Jasper jumped inside the cell, but answered back with his own aura, _'Hey... um, why aren't you just coming in?'_

_'Cell locks are shorted out, I can't get in and as usual you can't get out.'_

_'Oh... *chuckle* we should have thought of that...'_

_'Yeah, we should have...' _Niamh giggled mentally, before her 'voice' went serious, '_well... I guess now it's time to explain everything...'_

_'Yes, it is... I was so worried, anyone'll tell you, I cried for days and got myself lost in the forest... um... twenty times.'_

_'..._Twenty_?-! Man Jasp! You're insane sometimes, I swear!'_

_'Come on, wouldn't you have done the same? Now, Ni-Ni, tell me, what happened that day? And after it?'_

Niamh let out a mental sigh, and began her tale from where Jasper's memory finished.

**_Flashback..._**

_"No way! I'm carrying on! If you wanna be a scaredy Glameow then go back home!" Niamh called back before running faster. She could hear her friend yelling something about 'bad guys', but she paid it no heed, running more and giggling the whole time. She didn't know how far she went, but she felt she'd been running a good few minutes when she heard a twig snap ahead of her, and she stopped still, scared now. "Wh-Who's there?" She hoped maybe it was just a Pidgey, or a Rattata, or something like that, but her fears were the ones that were answered when two people dressed in black and purple walked out of the trees and bushes, standing in front of her with smirks on their faces._

_"You're new 'family' is who's here, kiddo. We weren't supposed to blow our over yet, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to snatch you, attracter!" One of the men said. Niamh backed off a step, terrified of these two new people, she didn't like the look of them at all, or what they were saying._

_"M-My f-family is b-back home! L-Leave me alone!" She cried before trying to turn and run, her back now to them._

_Big mistake._

_Something hit her hard in the back, it shocked like she was being hit by Jasper's father's Raichu's Thunderwave, and she hit the ground paralyzed, now utterly defenceless. She whimpered._

_"Good one Kenny! Now come on, grab her and let's go! I can hear someone coming!" The other male said. _

_"Right!" The other said, and a minute later Niamh could tell she was slung over someone's shoulder, and being carried off somewhere. _

**_'After that... nothing was ever the same... I found myself locked in a cell for a week, maybe more, only hearing snippets of what was planned for me, and hearing them repeatedly calling me the 'attracter'... I didn't understand any of it, being so young... but I knew something bad was coming...'_**

_8 days later..._

_"Wh-Where w-we going? L-Lemme go! L-Lemme go home! I-I wanna s-see mommy! I-I wanna s-see d-daddy! I-I wanna see Jasper!" Niamh screamed as she was carried off to a room somewhere in the base she was in. They all ignored her, reaching a room and putting her down on a metal table, strapping her in with clamps on her wrists, ankles and waist. She screamed more._

_"Oh shut up, you stupid little brat! You'll be screaming enough in a second! Save it!" An older man said, he was in a lab coat, and had grey hair, though he looked wise, even if evil. Niamh didn't listen, continuing to scream. "Suit yourself..." The man sighed, walking over to her, holding a device in a pair of tweezers, it wasn't that big, just big enough to probably be about the size of an 'After Eight' mint sweet (look it up if you don't know what it is), but Niamh didn't like it at all. _

**_'I'll spare you what happened next... that device was implanted on my chest, attached to me, to release my aura to the extent it would be at extreme levels... another one was placed on the back of my head, and a special release system was attached to me... it hurt a lot... but I did get the release system removed a while back, when I was about ten, I was taught how to use my aura properly, and they found out I needed the wand... the system was taken off, and I was given the wand instead...'_**

_A Few years later..._

_"Look, kiddo, you know the rules, you do as we say or we go hunt down your family and they all _die_, just like those people you saw the other day, got it? Take the damn wand, and sit down so we can tell you what it does!"_

_"I don't want the stupid want! I don't _want_ to use aura! I only want to go home! I don't like this retarded team! Let me go home!" Niamh retorted, fists clenching. The Soldier didn't like that at all, like most TUA agents not liking being talked back to or insulted, and he held a hand up, palm facing her from the side. Niamh saw this, and gulped, fists unclenching._

_*SLAP!*_

_Niamh tumbled over onto the floor, a red handprint on her cheek, and tears in her eyes. _

_"Got the message yet?-! Get on the damn chair, and take the damn wand!" The Soldier repeated, sharper. Niamh whimpered and scrambled to her feet, sitting on the chair and grabbing the wand off the desk, looking at it and trying to seem interested. The Soldier sat down opposite. "Now then, that wasn't so hard was it?" He sighed. "Look, the way that works is your Aura is specially tuned to that object, or more precisely the wood it is made out of, a rare tree. Your Aura somehow tunes to that wood, it reacts to it, so that can conduct it, channel it, so you can use many aura techniques, some even advanced aura users can't use yet!"_

_"O-Okay..." Niamh said shakily. _

_"Try it out, now." The Soldier ordered, standing back, out of the way. Niamh cautiously and shakily lifted the wand, pointing it at the wall, an unsteady aura sphere, pink like her aura, forming on the end of it. She closed her eyes, and then fired it._

**_'I blew the wall out... *dry chuckle* my first big achievement... I was put on the Initiate rank straight off, climbed to Grunt in a week, mainly on recon missions, and then to Soldier in another month... after that it wasn't so easy, I had to do... *gulp* more target missions, collecting people, possibly hurting people... one time, I had to almost _****kill_ someone..._**

**End Flashback**

_...I had to leave it to Weston, though, I just couldn't do it...' _Niamh sighed, hitting her head against the door. _'I was teased for weeks, even those who don't like this place joined in, here if you can't kill then you're nearly utterly worthless...'_

_'Man... I had no idea how bad this place was... this whole team... man... I guess Authoress was serious when she said how big a threat they are...'_

_'You're family still has that Authoress following you?'_

_'Yup... she's not so bad, but then again I haven't had all that much experience with her.' _Jasper said, chuckling. Niamh laughed, before sighing.

_'This'll be a long couple of hours...'_ She sighed, hitting her head against the door again. Jasper used his aura to make a feeling of someone hugging her, making her blush. '_Jasp...'_

_'It won't be so long, we can talk.'_

_'Thanks Jasp... I missed you pal.'_

_'I missed you too Ni-Ni.'_

~X~X~X~

**Me: Well, there we go! Nearly double the length of normal chapters, I was in a writing mood obviously! XD! Anyway... No Beta-Reading here, I decided this time to let it go out as it is, so it'd all be a surprise to everyone who reads as to what happens, and maybe just a little to keep Nathen waiting to see what I've done with TUA now... heh... anyway! Hope it's good! **


	46. Ep 45: Valentine's Day

**Me: Okay, this will attempt to be a bit Valentine's Day related, late as it is! And thus, Matchmaker No. 3 is here! Final Heir made a matchmaker, a version of himself, for this, so he can come and play a part here! Now I just need to think of plans... man... maybe I'll have to recycle the ones from in my first matchmaker story like I did before... anyway, time to get this chapter moving! fAh, Anon as I call ya, your OC was gonna appear here but I couldn't fit him in, but I'll try and get him in next chapter I swear! Cross my heart!**

**Episode 45- Valentine's Day**

**"Last chapter... well, I can hardly say a thing! But it seems that, despite the dodgy timeline here, that Authoress has decided to make today Valentines for the group... not that they'll really do much about it..."**

"I cannot believe you wouldn't let us celebrate Christmas when you did but you're making us celebrate soppy old Valentine's Day!" Auberon whined, slumping over as he walked. Gem sweatdropped.

"I'm not forcing you to actually do anything about it, Auberon." She said, then thinking: _Yet..._ "It's just an option you now have."

"Well, we all know _some _people who'll do something with it!" Scarlet snickered, purposely coughing and muttering two names. Indigo and Jaspa both blushed, but glared.

"Annnnnnyway... you don't have to start celebrating it 'til tomorrow morning anyway, it's getting dark out now, time to stop walking me thinks." Gem said, giving Jaspa and Indigo a look to stop them glaring at Scarlet. "And none of you, and I'm talking to you and Auberon Scarlet, tease Jaspa and Indigo tomorrow."

"What happens if we do?"

"I'll set Nevee on you."

"...Alright, we won't." Auberon and Scarlet said at once, making both blush.

_Man we sooo need to get this thing started asap... now to think of whether to call our next match maker 'Nathen' or 'Final Heir'... man..._ Gem thought to herself, chuckling lightly under her breath. "Good! Now, come on, let's get a camp set up, we need to get some rest before we walk again tomorrow!"

"Alright... as long as you don't try and put mistletoe on the trees or some other crap." Scarlet said, giving their Authoress a shifty look.

"No, I won't, don't worry. I'm not _that_ unoriginal!" Gem said, giving her an offended look.

"Suuure you aren't..."

"Oh shut up and get in the clearing just over there and set up you silly little girl!" Gem huffed. Scarlet gave a mock offended gasp.

"Oh I'm _sooooooo_ offended!" She said, before snickering, "That one coming from the woman barely taller than us, shorty!" Gem growled.

"Don't you start that too for God's sake! I get that enough off Nathen! And at least with him I know he's only messing around!" Scarlet just snickered and ran off into the trees toward said Clearing. "Ooo! That girl tests my patience more than Destiny does..."

"You sound like my mom now." Auberon said with a sweatdrop.

"That's what happens when you live two different lives, Auberon! Now come on, the rest of you follow the Vampire girl!" Gem said, flinching a bit from a mental glare she received from Jaspa. _Oh _now_ his powers come back... _

Everyone followed, and within an hour they had everything set up, and had eaten within another half hour. Everyone said their goodnights, and once again Gem was left out on guard duty.

"Now... time to get out of here..." She said, checking everyone was silent, aka asleep, and then walking on her knees over to Jaspa's bag which he'd left outside his tent. She quietly unclipped the clip keeping it closed, and lifted the lid off, reaching inside and feeling around to the watch...

...When you could hear a snapping sound.

Gem's face went a bit red and she bit down on her bottom lip hard, pulling her hand out of the bag you could see her fingers trapped in a mouse trap.

"Nice try, but not good enough Authoress!" Jaspa called from his tent, making everyone – yes, they were _all_ still awake – laugh.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Psst!" A male voice whispered from the trees, somewhere around midnight. By now Gem was barely awake, and didn't hear the voice, eyes drooping. "Psst!" The voice whispered a bit louder. Gem still didn't hear. "PSSST!"

"Huh?-! What?-! Where?-! Why?-! Who?-! When?-! How?-!" She exclaimed as she jumped up and shook her head from side to side rapidly. The voice laughed.

"You're no different than normal." It said, before someone walked out of the trees into view of the Authoress. He had shoulder length dark blue hair, tied back in a ponytail at the bottom of his hair line, with blue eyes. He wore a dulled dark blue pair of pants with a white tribal design on the left leg, a white long sleeved shirt with a black and blue version of the Unova Region Poké ball Symbol and black sleeves that started at the collar and goes along the shoulder. Over that he had an unzipped black long sleeved jacket that with a collar that covered his neck when zipped and a silver shield with a light blue crystal in the middle of it and with Angel Wings that covered most of the shields edges on the back of the jacket. On his feet were a pair of black silver and blue running shoes. And around his neck an aged silver locket, and an Aura Stone. I think we all recognise this description.

"Nathen! Or Final Heir! Or whatever else I should call you!"

"Nathen would be fine... but that may be a bit confusing." He chuckled, "I think Final Heir will suffice."

"Hum... how about I just call you Final? Or Heir?"

"Heir sounds better."

"Okay then! Heir it is!" Gem said with a grin. "I'd say it's been a while, but it's hardly been a couple of chapters since I saw you! So I'll just say Hi!"

"Hi to you too, shorty." Heir smirked, making Gem groan.

"You will never, ever let that drop... come on man, you know it annoys me!" She said, slumped over.

"I know."

"GAH!" Gem exclaimed, standing up straight again and trying to launch a punch but he stepped out of the way. "I can see how my characters get so annoyed with me... doesn't mean I'll stop though." She said afterwards.

"You sure are irritable today."

"Bite me."

"Yup, very, very irritable. Bad plot point?"

"Something like that. That and I hate Valentine's day, my ex is off with his new girlfriend in Scotland and my pal/crush Blaise 'Blaze' Hart is sick today."

"Ouch. Hey, how do you know that? I thought you couldn't get out of this world at the moment?" Heir asked, raising an eyebrow. Gem was about to answer before seeing this.

"Gee, have you turned into a Ketchum now?" The Authoress said before shaking her head, "Anyway, I can still tell what's happening in my world, especially since I'm mentally connected to my young self!"

"Oh... well, you do have a different system here to me I guess. Anyway, you know why I'm here of course." Heir said, sitting down on the log opposite Gem.

"No duh, Heir. I did ask you to come." Gem said, rolling her eyes. "It's the Valentine's Special, and I need some matchmaking help. Who else was I going to ask? You did volunteer, and no one else was ready yet."

"Well, do you have any plans at all?"

"One so far, its recycled from an old story of mine but it worked well enough then, plus it can only be used at the end of the chapter for cliff-hanger purposes." Gem said, sitting down as well now after her little episode when Heir arrived. "Other than that I'm coming up zero!"

"We'll come up with something."

"We better, or this chapter is gonna end up pointless!"

"Don't most of them?"

"You better just be messing around again, Heir..." Gem said, giving him a small glare. Heir sweatdropped.

"Of course I am, Gem. Now, come on, we need to think of something!"

"Gimme chance! Come back in the morning, they can't see you here or they'll get suuuuper confused." Gem said, looking to the tents. The two could hear snoring from Auberon's tent, whilst there were quiet whimpers from Indigo's.

"Nightmare...?" Heir asked, trailing off. Gem nodded solemnly.

"The wounds are healed outside, but it's only a matter of time... *sigh* Well... she'll get through it, I know she will, Jaspa will help her... which in itself is a worry... if he loses too much of his control, he might actually kill Dax... and I don't think his blood would be the best for him to drink..."

"We better not talk about this, they could wake up." Heir said as he stood, "Well, I'll go, make sure you think of something, I'll try my best too."

"Your various connections could come in handy too." Gem said as she stood too, "Hm... I think I may have an idea. How about we focus on Auberon and Scarlet tomorrow, make Indi and Jas think they've gotten off lightly, but then have my idea at the end of the day for them? Then, to start with, we can get them all separated somehow: Nevee, Jaspa and Indigo with me, whilst Auberon and Scarlet end up on their own."

"How to do so though?"

"As I said, your various connections may help here. Do you know anyone who could help?"

"Not so much in this universe... but my disguises/changes would work... Team Rocket?" Heir suggested.

"Who better? No one will suspect a thing if they make an appearance, they normally do anyway, I just need to get them back more often." Gem replied with a nod. "But maaaan, speaking of bringing people back, I think I need to get more OC in too, I have to make your characters appear at certain towns as you requested... but there's Kirara-..."

_"ITS KIRA!"_

"-...Lance, Star, Christian, Deci, Juli-... July, Alice, etc... etc... I always forget the OC... *sigh*" Gem said, not even pausing when she heard the yell from somewhere in the region, making Heir sweatdrop. "One I need to bring in this chapter or next chapter... well, anyway, see you tomorrow then, and bring your Milotic.

"Why?"

"I'll brief you in the morning, now go!" Gem ordered. Heir just nodded now, running into the trees.

~X~X~X~

"Why do I have the feeling you've planned something?" Scarlet said the next morning whilst they were walking again.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Scarlet." Gem said, trying to keep a straight face. Scarlet gave her shifty eyes.

"I don't believe you."

"Me either!" Auberon chimed in. Gem giggled silently to herself, but otherwise kept her straight face.

"You guys need to learn to have more faith in me, I can't mess with as much whilst I'm stuck down here, I don't have all my equipment. I have nooo power over what happens."

"If that's a hint about the watch, you're still not getting it back." Jaspa said.

"I gathered that one, Jaspa, the Mouse Trap was a huuuuge give away." Gem sighed, glaring at him. Everyone laughed.

"Anyway, how many more days 'til we reach Veilstone? I wanna get my next badge already!" Auberon said impatiently.

"I wanna do our moooooovie!" Nevee added. Gem giggled properly now.

"You sure about that? Believe me, the movie is not all fun and games. Anyway, we have to do the Gym Badge before you can go off to do the movie."

"Why just say 'you'? Aren't you gonna be there?" Indigo asked.

"Nope. Around the time we reach Veilstone, I have to prepare for a Gym Leader's conference, so I'll be disappearing for a week or so after your Veilstone Battle, which is the time it should take for you to get through the movie. But anyway, that's not important right now."

"Can you please just tell us how many days?" Auberon whined.

"About... a week or so." Gem said, but thinking: _Man Heir... I thought you'd've used that extra Persona space I gave you for this universe to get TR here by n-.._.

Her thought was cut off by a smoke bomb hitting the ground in the middle of the group.

_Thought too soon..._

"Oh you have to be kidding me!" Scarlet coughed out from the smoke, "Authoress this better not be your doing!"

"I just told you *cough* I can't control anything from down here!" Gem called, _But Heir can... heh._

"P-..."

"Oh cut de motto dis time, twit! Let's just do what dat higher agent told us ta!" Meowth's voice said from the smoke, cutting off whichever of his counterparts was going to start the motto.

"Oh fine!" Gwen said, "Do what he said to then!"

"I will!" Meowth said, grabbing one of his large red buttons and pressing it.

_Man what do they have planned...? Probably an attack... time to brace myself... and Indi, Jas and Nevee, they MUST land with me..._ Gem thought the second he did this, and when she saw the Hyper Beam coming she muttered something about 'I swear if Heir suggested that attack to them I'll kill him...', and in the next instant she had to use more aura than she was used to, to bind her temporarily to the three so they would stay with her when they were separated.

"Shit!" Someone in the group exclaimed, Gem didn't have time to guess who before the attack hit the middle of the group and sent them all flying.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Gareth said as he popped his head up over the other two's heads.

~X~X~X~

**_Auberon and Scarlet_**

"Whoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaooa!" Scarlet exclaimed as she came crashing to the ground, landing on something surprisingly soft that let out its own exclamation of 'OW!' when she landed. Scarlet sat on it clueless for a minute, before something hit the side of her arm. Looking to what did it she saw Auberon's green and yellow shoed foot, so looking to the other side she saw him twisting his neck to look at her, not looking impressed at all, in fact he looked ready to kill her, "Oopsy! Sorry Auberon! Didn't see ya there!" Scarlet said as she scrambled off.

"Oh gee, didn't the 'OW' give it away Scarlet?" Auberon said in a highly sarcastic tone, sitting up and cracking his back and neck, loudly.

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it." Auberon groaned, rubbing his neck.

"Ya wanna bet this is all down to Gem?" Scarlet said, standing up and rubbing her head a bit, looking around for everyone, "Speaking of her she's not here... neither are the others..."

"Well no duh! Didn't you see them fly off in the other direction?" Auberon said as he too stood up.

"No! I had my eyes closed, dimwit! I was preparing myself for a rough landing!" Scarlet said, giving him a look as if it was obvious. Auberon gave her a weird look in return.

"You're weeeeird man, very weird." Scarlet sighed at him, and walked over to a tall tree.

"Look, we need to try and find the others, so we need to look from above the tree line for a sign of something entering from above into the forest, okay?" She said as she tried to get a decent grip on a couple of branches.

"Your logic makes no sense to me." Auberon said as he walked over, sweatdropping as she fell. "Need any help?"

"Nothing makes sense to you, and no, I can manage." Scarlet replied as she tried again to get a grip, pushing her feet against the bark, but falling again.

"Yeah, you're _realllly _managing aren't you?" Auberon said with the same heavy sarcasm as earlier. "Here, lemme help." He held her wrists, guiding her arms up to two stronger branches that were also more in her reach, and holding one of them up with one hand used the other to help her lift her leg up onto the bark, slowly helping her walk up far enough that she could put her foot on a branch. Scarlet's face went as red as her under-t-shirt, as when he was helping her hands his chest was brushing right up against her back, and from his hands being so close to hers. "There we go! Now watch the master in action!"

"Oh this should be good." Scarlet said as she attempted to make her blush go away, snickering teasingly.

"Oh, it will be." Auberon said with a smirk of his own. The next instant he ran at the tree from a small distance and jumping up grabbed a branch of the tree, before swinging his legs up to a branch on his other side that was also higher than the one he was holding, landing on it in a crouch, looking down at Scarlet with a cocky smirk. Scarlet was looking up at him with wide eyes, completely astonished.

"What... The... F-..."  
"I CAN STILL HEAR THAT ONE SCARLET!" Gem's voice yelled from somewhere. The two sweatdropped.

"She is sooooooo weird." Scarlet said.

"Tell me about it. Now come on, let's get climbing." Auberon said, holding his hand down to her. Scarlet looked at it before smiling and grabbing his light brown hand with her paler one, and let him pull her up to the next branch.

~X~X~X~

**_Gem, Nevee, Indigo and Jaspa_**

"You totally had something to do with this shit didn't you?" Jaspa said as he stood up and brushed himself off, looking to Gem over his glasses. Gem groaned.

"How many times do I need to say it?-! I can't make things like that happen from down here!" Gem said. "They did it on their own!"

"I'm not convinced..." Indigo said as she stood up, brushing herself off as well, wincing a bit as she looked to her shoulder, the one she had landed on. There was a bruise. "Looks like Ellis missed one..." She muttered.

"No, it's fresh." Jaspa said as he looked her arm over, "Just in the same spot as an old one, probably from the landing."

"I like pancakes!" They all heard Nevee say, looking to her they all sweatdropped when they saw her eyes were swirly like a Spinda's and she had little Pikachu's running around her head.

"Is there something wrong?" A male voice said from the trees nearby. Gem recognised the voice, and sighed, half in relief and half in annoyance.

_He's lucky that Indi and Jas won't recognise him... and Nevee is too oblivious to care or notice... well, at least now I can ask him if he made them use that attack, and kill him if he did..._

"Who's there?" Jaspa asked, grabbing Indigo's hand. Indigo blushed.

Heir walked out of the trees, waving casually to show he wasn't a threat, stopping just in front of them. "Hi. The name is Heir, and you all are?"

"I'm Gem, the ginger boy is Jaspa, the blonde girl is Indigo, and the brunette with Pikachu's around her head is Nevee." Gem said. Heir sweatdropped when he saw this. "And before ya ask, the reason we're in the middle of the forest is because some twits exploded us here with a Hyper Beam." She said the attack name with a certain tone to her voice, giving the other author a look. He gave her one back saying 'No way did I suggest that one, I swear!' Gem gave him a shifty look; much like Scarlet would have given her if she was saying that, before stopping and going 'normal' again.

"Oh, I see! Well, do you need any help getting out of here?" Heir said.

"I guess..." Indigo said, looking to Gem, "If authoress allows it of course. Is this some new OC you're introducing?"

"No, it's not. And of course I'm fine with it! Sheesh, I'm not that bad that I won't accept help!" Gem said, lightly tapping the girl around the back of the head. Indigo playfully pouted at her.

"Oi!" She said, rubbing her head, pretending it hurt. Jaspa didn't like that however and gave her hand a small squeeze. Indigo gave him a look.

"Have I entered a mad house?" Heir asked as if he didn't know.

"Yeppity yep-yep!" Nevee giggled from her position on the floor.

"Someone gonna help me carry this insane little kid?" Gem sighed, looking to the girl.

"I'm not, I've already had my turn at that." Jaspa said. Indigo nodded.

"Me either, I'd never manage." She said, sweatdropping again as Nevee started to sing about Mary's little Flaaffy.

"I could carry her if you want." Heir suggested.

"You sure? She's insane." Indigo said, "I'm sure Gem's Blaziken could carry her."

"Nah, I think I can handle the insanity." Heir said as he walked over to the girl and carefully slung her up onto his back.

"Let's get going then, lead the way." Gem said, pushing a hand forward to gesture to go. Heir nodded and started to walk, with Gem following him, just about keeping up so she was right next to him as they walked. Indigo and Jaspa walked behind them, Indigo holding onto Jaspa's hand. Making sure no one could hear her other than Heir, Gem whispered: "Did you put Undine in that lake I asked you to?"

"Yes, I did. I'm hoping you're not going to pull what Star did, though..." Heir whispered back. Gem shook her head.

"Not the exact same thing, just something a lil' similar." Gem said, "You'll find out later, well, when you read this. You won't be seeing what happens, none of us will, you can get Undine after you leave us."

"Alright then."

Behind them, Indigo and Jaspa were having a quiet talk of their own. "You think we got out of the matchmaking today...?"

"I hope so... she needs to give it up..." Jaspa replied. Indigo couldn't help but feel that sting thinking he didn't want to be with her at all again, but remembering advice she was given by Vahn in Pokoh she ignored that thought and just nodded.

"She must be focusing on Auberon and Scarlet in some way... and I bet that guy has something to do with it..."

"Same... well, let's see how today pans out..."

~X~X~X~

"I cannot believe it... I thought you said your elfy senses could help us find our way?-!" Scarlet said as she realised they'd gotten even more lost.

"We're not that lost! I swear I can tell there's a clearing coming up! We can send a smoke signal with Asher from there! I'm not as dumb as I seem, Vampal, you know that. All that academic crap, I suck at, but things like this and Pokémon battling I'm better at. Now come on," He said as he grabbed her hand again, "let's get going! We need to hurry! I don't even wanna know what Pokémon could be in 'ere! Ursaring or worse!"

"What's worse than Ursaring?" Scarlet said, trying to hide her blush at him holding her hand again.

"Gyarados...?" Auberon suggested after thinking for a while, though not sounding sure. Scarlet gave him a look. "An... angry Gyarados with a thorn in his side...?" Scarlet continued with the look. "What?"

"We're in a _forest_, Auberon! Gyarados live in _lakes _or the _ocean_."

"Th-There could be a lake here!" Auberon said quickly in his defence. Scarlet just laughed.

"Oh you are crazy, Aube, completely crazy." The red eyed girl laughed, squeezing his hand. They both blushed and fell silent at this, quickly retracting their hands from each other's. "U-Uh, let's just hurry to this clearing you mentioned." Auberon nodded hurriedly, and they started to run on ahead to find the clearing.

After a minute or two of silent running they ran out into a large open clearing... with a huge lake right in the middle

"HA! I told you!" Auberon said as soon as he saw the large body of clear water. Scarlet stuck her tongue out at him.f

"So what? We just gotta hope there's no Gyarados in there now!" Scarlet said as she walked over to the edge and peered in. Auberon followed, looking over her shoulder for a minute before walking over toward the tallest tree around the clearing. "What're you doing?"

"I'm gonna take a last look for any signs of the others, you stay down her and let out Asher, we need to get some random smoke in the air to attract attention." Auberon said as he showed off again by grabbing a branch and swinging onto another one. Scarlet playfully rolled her eyes at him and turned around, her back now to the lake, and grabbed Asher's Poké Ball. Because of her turning she didn't notice the dark shape appearing on the water's surface. Auberon continued to climb, or should I say swing, up the tree so he could try and spot any signs of humans nearby, so he also failed to notice the shape appearing in the water. Scarlet let out Asher and started telling him what they needed him to do, before the shape in the lake started to rise above the surface casting a shadow over Scarlet and Asher.

"Char? (Huh?)" Asher said as he noticed it, looking up and behind his trainer before his eyes widened. "Char! Charmeleon! Charmeleon! Char-char! (Scarlet! Scarlet look! Look behind you! Scarlet go on!)" He exclaimed. Scarlet hadn't noticed the shadow, and as she didn't understand her Pokémon she just cocked her head to the side confused.

"Huh? Is something wrong Asher?" Asher nodded hurriedly over and over and pointed his claw at the thing behind her. "Eh?" Scarlet turned around, and her eyes widened seeing a disgruntled looking Shiny Milotic sticking its neck out of the water right behind her. "Crap!" _Oh typical of me to not swear when I have reason to!_ She thought as an afterthought before the Milotic suddenly grabbed her with its tail in a wrap attack. She screamed. "ASHER! HELP!"

"(M-Master I-I c-can't!)" Asher said as he jumped back, scared by the splash of water the Milotic's move caused. Scarlet didn't understand him but she knew her crying for his help was a dumb idea anyway, so just screamed more.

"AUBEROOOON! HEEEELP!"

Auberon was high up in the tree by now, but he heard the scream of his friend and turned to look down at the clearing, thinking she was just asking for something stupid he could just ignore and keep climbing, but he then saw the Milotic pull the girl she had in her Wrap attack into the water. Auberon's eyes widened.

"SCARLET!" He yelled. Scarlet looked at him with scared eyes as she tried to struggle out of the Milotic's grip. Auberon quickly realised he wasn't going to manage to climb down in time, so grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt and let out his newest Pokémon, Carnivine. The Pokémon levitated just above the branch by his side. "Use Vine Whip, Carnivine! Lower me to the ground!" He ordered in a hurried tone. Carnivine didn't seem to find anything urgent about it though, so first flew in circles around his new trainer. Auberon facepalmed. "This is not a time for that Carnivine! Lower me to the ground! Hurry up!"

Carnivine still didn't find his tone urgent enough, it seems, as he just continued to float around his trainer. Auberon slumped over. "Carni?"  
"GET ME TO THE GROUND!" Auberon then yelled, getting impatient and taking his hand off the tree trunk he'd been using to support himself as he stood there on the branch. It was silent, Carnivine and him looking at each other, before it sank in. "Shit." And then he started to flail around before falling off the tree branch and through the air toward the ground. "Ow! Uff! Eek! Ow! Ouch! Ee!" He exclaimed at various points of his fall as he hit branches, before he crashed face first into the ground creating a small crater in the shape of him with his arms up and lets at right angles, him twitching. "Ugh..."

"AUBERON!" Scarlet screamed, half from how she was still scared and from how far the fall was.

"I-I'm okay!" Auberon said dizzily, standing up with swirly eyes and stumbling around for a minute before Asher hit him with Flamethrower and snapped him out of it. "Thanks mate!" He said quickly before shaking off the soot.

By now Scarlet was on the verge of tears. The Shiny Milotic had completely stopped her moving by now, and soon the retreating, angry Pokémon would be dragging her under the water with her, and she couldn't break free. She now knew why her mother used to be scared of open bodies of water, even if the fact this time a Milotic was _harming_ her instead of helping her was a huge contrast to her mother's situation. She fruitlessly tried to struggle, screaming the whole time.

Auberon looked to his Carnivine, and quickly thought of all the attacks he could learn up to his level, which he saw on his Poké Dex when he caught him. He swore when he realised that the only one he could really do anything with was Vine Whip, and just prayed it would work. "Carnivine, I am being _dead_ serious this time, use Vine Whip!" Carnivine must have delayed reaction times, because this time he decided to pick Auberon up off the ground and hover him in the air, laughing. "GAH! LET ME DOWN AND USE VINE WHIP ON THE STUPID MILOTIC YOU LEAF HEAD!" And yes, that is actually his best insult... _Leaf Head_.

"Carnivine? Carni!" Carnivine said as he finally understood, letting his trainer down before turning to the Milotic who was attacking Scarlet and hit it repeatedly with his Vine Whip attack. The Milotic just flicked the vines away with a swish of its head and long body. "Carnivine! Car!"

"Dammit... it must be too strong..." Auberon cursed as he grabbed his Poké Ball and returned his Pokémon. Then he quickly made a new decision, undoing his belt holding his Poké Balls and throwing it to the ground by Asher, unbuttoning his green shirt and doing the same and then pulling off his jeans to reveal his green swimming trunks, pulled off his socks and shoes and then rolling up the sleeves of his yellow t-shirt he ran into the water after the Milotic and started to pull on the binding body that was coiling around Scarlet's form. Scarlet saw him doing this when she pried her eyes open, and blushed.

_A-Auberon..._

"Miloooooo!" The Shiny Milotic cried as she lashed the end of her tail out to knock him off. With the same agility he had used to climb the trees Auberon jumped over the tail using the Milotic's snake-like body as his push up, actually managing to deliver a good kick to the fins on the end of its tail before he continued to try and pry the spirals of the tail away from his friend. He put one foot against the lowest ring and pushed with that as he pulled, starting to make a little leeway for Scarlet as he did so, the top coil loosening slowly but surely. The Milotic made lashes out, but they started to miss a lot more frequently, as if it was missing on purpose. Auberon was paying no attention to this Pokémon's accuracy levels, though, he was too focused on freeing his trapped crush from its hold. Scarlet's struggles slowly began to become noticeable again, the coil was now moving away from her upper body.

"Yes! Almost there!" But as he was saying this the Milotic decided to stop the passive approach, seeing it was making it too easy, and started to move into the water more, sinking under the surface and dragging Scarlet with her. Auberon's eyes widened and he fell onto the shallow water's ground, losing the support of the bottom ring. "SCARLET!" Auberon yelled.

In the water Scarlet had been lucky enough to remember to take a huge breath of air when she went under the water, and was managing to keep it easily for now, thanks to her growing Aura control managing to use a mini kind of recover that helped her. But she knew she wouldn't keep it for long. The Milotic was swimming pretty slowly, but it wasn't that noticeable when you were tied up in its body.

Above ground Auberon was panicking, before he decided he had to do something about it. "Asher, stay back from the water okay?"

"(Like you had to tell me!)" Asher retorted as he backed off more. Auberon didn't even notice when he understood that, and didn't even notice that he was feeling something inside him growing stronger. He turned to the water, and then pulled off his t-shirt and threw it behind him again.

_Man right now I wish I was a Pokémon... then I could use that Pokoh move Jaspa told us about from his research... what was it... um... ah, that's it, Bubble Breathe! Oh come on, stop it, stop getting distracted and save her already!_ He thought to himself, unaware that his eyes had begun to glow the opposite colour to their normal colour, and then he dived into the water.

Scarlet could see him coming now, her eyes blurry from the water, and feeling weak as she tried to keep her breath in. The Milotic seemed to slow even more as she swam, but Auberon didn't seem to notice this... or how he suddenly had a bubble of air around his mouth, or how he was breathing normally as he swam. As he grew closer and closer Scarlet began to feel her breathing coming to her again, air magically appearing around her breath and letting her breath normally again. She was confused, before looking down she saw the bubble appearing around her mouth, and her blurry eyes widened.

_What the hell?-!_ She exclaimed in her mind, before Auberon grabbed onto the top ring and started to pull again. Scarlet could swear there was now a blue and green glow around his hands and feet as he pulled, and the Shiny Milotic seemed to actually be feeling some effect from it as she started to weaken her hold genuinely. After a minute the Milotic let out a cry and let Scarlet go.

"Scarlet!" Auberon yelled out, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her up to him, holding her close to him as he swam up to the surface and hurriedly climbed out of the water, collapsing onto the bank, dripping wet. Scarlet gasped for her breath again, despite the bubble the air hadn't exactly been fresh as they were underwater when it formed, coughing a bit, wincing from her torso aching because of the tight hold. "A-Are you okay?-!"

"I... I think I now know how F-Fire type-types are s-so scared o-of w-water t-types..." Scarlet said, looking at him. Auberon looked at her before laughing and hugging her.

"You're fine... you're the same old you so you're fine..." He said, not letting her go. Scarlet hugged him back, still confused about what had happened in the water with the glowing and the bubbles, but decided not to say anything aloud.

"Th-Thanks for s-saving m-me..." She said. _That glowing... it was like when me and the others use Aura... and that bubble, it wasn't just an elfy thing that's for sure, it was that move Jaspa mentioned... holy crap does he have strong aura and not know it?-!_ Scarlet then thought, but as she closed her eyes and scanned his aura, it may have been half blue and half green but it was only average, _Strange..._

"No problem... no problem at all... but you're soaking." He said, gesturing to her drenched clothes, "And your bag is too... and that has all your other clothes."

"Crap..." Scarlet groaned, pulling out of the hug even if not really wanting to. "Well... I have my swimming stuff on under here, as you obviously did too, so I could just walk in them I guess..."

"Nah, you need something else too. At least a shirt... ah!" Auberon said before going over to his stuff, "You get out of that wet stuff and shove it in your bag, I'll get you one of my spare button shirts."

"Thanks Aube..." Scarlet said as she took off her clothes one by one and shoved them into her bag, underneath revealing a black swimming costume that appeared to be the same one that May wore during the Lucario adventure, but a different colour. Auberon got himself into his spare yellow t-shirt and jeans, and handed his green shirt to Scarlet. She slipped it on and did up most of the buttons from the top down, before slinging her wet bag up onto her back again. Asher returned himself to his Poke Ball as she put her belt on loosely around her waist.

"We better just try and find them on foot now, save any more disasters." Auberon said as he grabbed her hand again, causing them both to blush for the millionth time that day.

"Alright, let's hurry then!" Scarlet said. Auberon smiled and nodded, and they ran off.

In the water the Milotic, Undine, smiled.

~X~X~X~

**_An hour and several tree climbs and falls later..._**

"Guys! Guys! Up here guys!" Auberon called to the group he could see walking out of the edge of the forest from one branch of a tall tree. Heir was no longer with them, he stayed just inside the edge of the trees, watching. The four looked up, and saw Auberon standing on the branch with one arm around Scarlet to keep her steady on the branch, Scarlet's face as red as her bobbles.

"There you are! Come on down Elfy, and bring Scarlet too!" Gem called up.

"Like I wasn't gonna anyway!" Auberon said as he let her onto his back and started to clamber down the tree as agilely as he did without someone on his back, then running over to the group. "Finally! We found you!"

"What happened to you? Why is Scarlet in your shirt?" Indigo said as Auberon let Scarlet back down, before giggling and deciding it was time for payback, "Did you two do something?"

"Ew no!" They both said at once with deep blushes, blushing deeper as they realised they said the same thing. "Shut up Indigo!" The blushes deepened again.

"If you can't take it then you don't dish it out, pals." Indigo giggled, covering her mouth with one hand's fingers.

"Shuddup..." Scarlet said with her blush slowly fading. "Can we get moving now?"

"You just want me to drop the subject don't you?" Indigo said, crossing her arms. Scarlet giggled herself now, before starting to run on ahead.

"Bet you guys can't catch me!"

"Oh come on no fair!" Auberon said as he started to chase her, shortly followed by Nevee and a slower Gem. Indigo turned to go, when she swore she heard someone moving in the trees to her side, looking at the bushes confused.

"Indigo!" Jaspa called from just up ahead, Indigo snapped out of trance and turned to him, "Come on! The others are running pretty fast!"

"Coming!" Indigo said as she started to run to him, but then just as she was reaching him a Poké Ball rolled out of the trees at the side, and she didn't notice it in time. Her foot caught on the ball and she tripped over it, landing on Jaspa and knocking him onto his back, her landing on top of him, hands pressed onto his chest as she tried to stop her own fall and...

Her lips pressed onto his.

~X~X~X~

**Me; OH MY GOD THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO BLOODY LONG! *pant pant* Its over 6,500 words! That has to be a record for this Story and its two prequels! I like this chapter too, I find it easier to write more in-between speech when I'm unable to make annoying remarks because I'm stuck in the Pokémon World! XD Auberon and Scarlet are now a bit closer, and I decided to give you a cliff-hanger on Jas and Indi because I just felt that evil, okay? *snicker* Oh yeah, and random small plot in there now, Auberon has his own little plot spare the triangle, not that he knows he does! Thanks to Nathen again for letting me use his character as a matchmaker, if you didn't already guess or notice me call the Milotic its name, that Milotic was Nathen's, Undine. And that Poké Ball is totally one of his, thank god for readers or this story wouldn't be going this far! Over 40 chapters and not even at the third gym... my god... anyway, end of this long Authoress's note, R&R!**


	47. Ep 46: Aftermaths

**Me: Sorry for the month long wait! So, so sorry! Time to see the result of the cliff-hanger... ya wanna bet it won't be good? I do, we all know they'll blame me... and to be fair it was my idea... but that isn't the point! Anyway, time to get this chapter going! It took longer than I wanted it to because I not only had homework, I then got the new games, and I'm playing Black none-stop! So... yeah! Time to get going!**

**Ps: Oh, and did anyone notice that Hotaru and Lucy magically disappeared last chapter? *FACEPALM TO EPIC PROPORTIONS* I know I've forgotten people before but not that badly! Can we just say they went on ahead to the centre? Pwease? Or maybe they went to do some recon for us and I just didn't say? Pwease? XD**

**Episode 46- Aftermaths******

**"Last chapter is was an eventful 'Valentine's Day' in our heroes' world, with Auberon and Scarlet separated from the others... and with a great shock to Indigo and Jaspa..."**

_"Coming!" Indigo said as she started to run to him, but then just as she was reaching him a Poké Ball rolled out of the trees at the side, and she didn't notice it in time. Her foot caught on the ball and she tripped over it, landing on Jaspa and knocking him onto his back, her landing on top of him, hands pressed onto his chest as she tried to stop her own fall and..._

_Her lips pressed onto his._

Both of their eyes widened to nearly impossible sizes, their cheeks going Tomato Berry red, even if Jaspa's was slightly paler, and neither could move at all from the sheer shock of the accidental kiss.

Indigo instantly observed how smooth and cold his lips were, though they still felt soft and gentle despite this. She felt his teeth behind his lips, and mentally flinched feeling a slight point around where his canines were.

Jaspa couldn't help but notice how warm and soft her lips felt, how full they were against his thinner lips, and how tender they seemed to be compared to his own. He could feel her blood's heat below the thin layer of flesh, and feeling his instincts starting to take over he quickly decided he had to stop this.

He pushed her off him quickly and stood up in a literal blur, his eyes glinting over with a flash of red from the lust for her blood he'd just felt, and stood back from her as she sat on her behind with her arms supporting her from the back, looking at him with that blood-bearing blush on her cheek and her eyes shiny, like she were happy or going to cry, Jaspa wasn't sure which. He clamped his mouth shut, making his slowly forming fangs grind against the bottom row of teeth, and took and held a deep breath in through his nose, cursing himself when he got a whiff of her blood's scent in the breath.

"J-Jaspa..." Indigo said, her breath releasing more scent that wafted up Jaspa's nostrils even though he wasn't berthing. "I... Uh..."

"Leave it!" Jaspa got out between his teeth. "It's fine, okay? Just leave it!" He then turned around and ran off after the others, leaving Indigo behind. Indigo's eyes went shinier, but now it was more obvious it was because of tears. Shakily she stood herself up, and watched after him.

"J-Jas..." She said sadly, before slowly starting to walk after him.

"Well that didn't go so well…" Heir said from inside the bushes, "Better just get out of here though… good luck with this one Gem…"

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"What took you so long Indigo?" Scarlet asked as the girl finally caught up to the group, "We're nearly at the quarter-way Pokémon centre!"

"I tripped and kept tripping." Indigo said through a forced smile, though in truth she'd used some of her bruise make up to cover up the tear stains under and around her eyes, she'd been crying for most of the time she took to catch up. She glanced to Jaspa, but he had his head buried in his old magazine again, and she almost started to cry again, but after so long acting in her life she managed to keep the tears back.

"If you say so..." Scarlet said. Gem frowned, looking at Jaspa and at Indigo.

_Something tells me that Plan Poké Ball didn't go well... _She thought to herself as she observed their strangely distant behaviour. Indigo began to joke around with Scarlet and Auberon again like she used to do a lot more before she and Jaspa became friends, and Jaspa hadn't so much as glanced at that magazine since he found Indigo being abused by Dax... this was not good, or what Gem had hoped for.

"I can see the Pokémon Centre!" She then announced in her Authoress voice, snapping everyone out of what they were doing – in Nevee's case day dreaming about something or someone 'unknown' - and making them look up ahead.

"Running time again!" Scarlet said as she grabbed both her friend's wrists and pulled them with her as she ran. Nevee just giggled and started to run after them – seeming to be faster than usual – with Jaspa shoving his magazine away into his bag and running after them, though not seeming as eager as the others. Gem sighed before clicking her fingers and disappearing to get there first so she could book the rooms. She had to get Indigo and Jaspa in hers, this needed to be sorted out.

~X~X~X~

"Hey! How did you beat us?-!" Scarlet said as she ran into, not even near out of breath, the lobby of the Pokémon Centre.

"Easy, with a click of my fingers." Gem said as she grabbed something from her pocket. She handed Scarlet a Key Card. "That's for you and Auberon, I've got one for Nevee which I'll use later, and one for myself, Indigo and Jaspa."

"Why do I have to share with you?" Jaspa said, making Indigo flinch visibly and Gem flinch inwardly at the fact he was only saying 'I', not 'We' as he usually would've in this situation.

"Because I am the boss and you are the 'staff', so you do as I say! Plus, I thought you'd be happier sharing with _me_ than _Nevee_."

"...Good point, I'll let you off on that one." Jaspa said without changing his tone. Gem sighed, about to say something else when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked at who it was, along with the rest of the group, and saw a familiar boy with light brown floppy hair and brown eyes, except now he wore a plain black and white striped t-shirt with an open black shirt over the top with the same trousers as before.

"Uh, hi. Joy told me that I need to speak to you about a spare bed? There are no rooms left and apparently you guys have the only spare bed left in the building." The boy said. Nevee had gone strangely still and silent as soon as she'd seen the boy, blushing a bit.

"Hey, aren't you that dude Nevee bumped into?" Scarlet said as she too recognised the brunette.

"Oh, now I recognise you guys! Yeah, I am. The name is TJ Young, and you guys are?" The familiar stranger said to them.

"Scarlet Stone-Ketchum, hi."

"Auberon Baker, don't comment on the ears..."

"Jaspa."

"Indigo Sketchit, nice to meet you!"

"Gem, otherwise known as Authoress and Big Mouth."

"N-N-Nevee S-S-Strong." Nevee stuttered out last, cheeks still red. Gem sweatdropped.

"Nice to meet you all! Well, about that room Gem?" TJ said. Gem nodded, holding out the key to him.

"You'll be sharing with our resident crazy I'm afraid, but don't worry, give her a sleeping pill or a kid's book and she'll go to sleep quickly. Though I think in your case, as a new friend, the sleeping pill might be better." The authoress said.

"Awww! But I wanted a story tonight!" Nevee whined. The main group sweatdropped.

"I wouldn't mind reading her a story if she wants one." TJ said, with a small shrug. Nevee cheered, making the boy laugh.

"If you think you can handle it…" Gem said, even if inside she was giggling her head off. "Aright then!" She then said with a loud clap, before speaking again, "Time to eat then go to our rooms!"

~X~X~X~

Everyone was sat around in the largest room – Gem, Indigo and Jaspa's room – with the TV on in the background, though no one was paying attention to it, in fact they seemed to be in a small argument.

"Oh come on!" Scarlet whined.

"No! I don't like you playing Truth or Dare when I'm not down here, let alone when I am! I'm still haunted by the last time it happened with me here! I don't even want to know what you'd make _me_ do! And besides, as I said, even the ones without me down here are horrid!" Gem retorted, arms folded.

"…How about if we let you have the watch back?" Auberon responded. Gem looked at him curiously and thoughtfully for a minute.

"Deal." She said. Scarlet reached into Jaspa's bag, ignoring the boy if he said anything, and threw the watch to Gem. Gem examined it for a minute before pressing a few buttons to input her settings into it. It bleeped, and then an alert appeared on the screen.

'Settings Inputted, Device will activate in _three chapters_ time'

"Say WHAT?-!" She exclaimed, causing the others to laugh, "Hey, no laughing! This means you're stuck with me for three more chapters down here!"

"Shit she's right!" Scarlet said, earning a smack round the back of the head from Gem. "Ow!"

"Can we just do this game now? We have to get it over with. You don't mind playing do you TJ?" Gem said to the boy, who had sat down next to an ever so slightly blushing Nevee.

"I don't mind at all, it should be fun." TJ replied, smiling at Nevee once making her blush grow. Gee, she hides her feelings well don't she?

"Alrighty then! Now, Jaspa, do you have that ToD device I made that I gave you to keep secret?" Gem said, turning to the ginger haired boy. Jaspa shrugged and looked through his bag, digging around in all sorts of technology before he pulled out a small device and handed it over to Gem. She inputted some data into it, and then shook it violently. "This'll pick who gets asked or dared something first, and the dare or truth, it's safer that way!"

"Boring… but fine, if it's the only way we have to play." Auberon and Scarlet both groaned, blushing a bit. Gem looked at the device's screen.

"Auberon, you're up first! Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!"

"Thought as much… *click* oh boring! *sigh* It says… do ten sit ups."

"Easy-Peasy!" Auberon said, jumping from the bed and laying on the floor with his knees bent up. The obviously physically fit elf-like boy easily completed the sit ups before grabbing the device from Gem and shaking it as he sat back down.

**Gem. **

"Awesome! It's your turn Authoress!" Scarlet said when she saw it. Gem groaned.

"Truth, I don't trust dares from you two." She replied.

"Click it Auberon!" The Elfy boy did so, and the truth appeared. "Do you ever want to have children? How many?"

"Well, here I already have two… but in real life… one or two if I can get a guy there." Gem said, waving a hand dismissively. She took the device from Auberon, and handed it to Indigo, "You shake it this time."

"Okay!" Indigo giggled lightly despite how she was feeling inside, shaking the device roughly, and half imagining it was a certain half-vampire's head as she was still hurt and confused. The name that popped up was: **Jaspa.**

Indigo gulped a little, and prayed this wouldn't be something that would make him snap at her or the others, or cause the others to tease them again. She said his name aloud, and looked to him.

"Truth." He said simply. Indigo clicked the button, and on the screen appeared '**What would be your dream job**', she let out a silent sigh of relief at such an easy question. "Simple, a researcher like I am now, or a Pokémon Professor." He took the device from her, strangely deciding just to play along, and shook it. "Auberon, dare I presume?"

"Of course!" Auberon said with a big grin. Jaspa clicked it.

"An open dare time apparently… you have to leave the room and let us decide." The researcher told the Elfy boy, showing him the screen for proof. Auberon shrugged.

"Good. This thing has boring dares anyway!" He said before exiting the room. The others all looked at each other, and soon poor Scarlet was getting a very bad feeling, getting weird looks off almost all the group.

"Wh-Why're y-you all looking a-at me?" She asked nervously.

"Hm… how about we dare him to kiss her? I heard he tried that on you and Indigo, Jaspa." Gem said, indirectly answering Scarlet's question.

"More like you made him…" Indigo muttered.

"Hm… yes, let's do that. We all in agreement?" Jaspa said. TJ was giving them all a look, chuckling lightly.

"By any chance have I entered a mad house?" He asked playfully. Nevee giggled.

"Everyone ellllse says that so yup!" She said. TJ playfully ruffles her hair, making her blush more.

"Come back in Auberon!" Gem sang, giggling. Auberon walked in, now a little weary from her tone, "We chose your dare!"

"Should I be scared?" Auberon said cautiously. Gem giggled more, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Your dare is to: Kiss Scarlet!" Indigo said with a grin. Auberon's face went redder than a tomato berry, looking at the girl who's cheeks now matched her eyes.

"You guys are evil!" Auberon said in his whiny tone though it was quieter than normal, and less convincing. "Do I have to?"

"What happened to mister 'I can do anything?'" Indigo teased. Nevee was giggling this whole time.

"Fine! I'll do it!" Auberon said, storming over to Scarlet. Scarlet looked at him, face still red. Auberon got all nervous again when he got to the girl, and nervously, and extremely slowly, started to lean in. But before the kiss could connect, the TV could be heard:

**_"And today the famous trainer Jasper Ketchum has officially been declared missing after his scheduled return to the Ketchum household was not met, Professor Francesco Piaggesi realised he was missing after he visited the home and found no sign of him, Police are on the case and already have the idea that this disappearance is down to whoever took the rest of the trainer's family…"_** Natasha reported on the screen.

Everyone's eyes turned to the screen, and Scarlet's were by far the widest.

"They… they've got Uncle Jazz…"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Okay, so this chapter had only two points to it: Jaspa/Indigo's reaction, and the discovery of Jasper's disappearance by the world. Well, here we go then! I don't have much to say now! So… R&R!**


	48. Ep 47: Cheer up

**Me: Here we go again then! Let's pray this didn't take as long… well, time for Scarlet's reaction (gee, like it'll be any different to the last two times… heh), and I have to bring back in Hotaru and Lucy before they kill me… eek!**

**Episode 47- Cheer up**

**"Last Chapter: Jasper's 'mysterious' and 'unexplained' disappearance was revealed to the group, and the rest of the world! Plus there seems to be something causing Jaspa to return to his old self completely…"**

"Uncle Jazz… oh god… not him too…" Scarlet said, eyes still wide. Jaspa turned the volume up on the news, before Indigo gave him a glare and grabbed the remote from him, turning the TV off so Scarlet didn't have to listen to the bad news any longer.

"Scarlet…" She then said, standing up from the bed and walking to her friend, sitting beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. Scarlet slowly sank down into a slumped position with her head in her hands, Indigo rubbing her back. Auberon, sitting next to her already, placed a hand on the small of her back causing a blush to coat her cheeks.

"We… only saw him a little while ago… I… thought he'd be safe…" The red eyed girl replied with a stunned tone, head still in her hands.

"Scarlet… come on, he'll be fine…" Auberon said. Scarlet shook her head.

"We can't be sure of that, we don't even have a plan of how to beat TUA, and we don't know what base they're keeping my family in!"

"They can't afford to kill them, though… If they really are the strongest aura users in centuries…" Indigo said, sounding unsure but hoping it was enough to reassure her friend. Scarlet was silent for a moment, before speaking again.

"I… I-I guess… b-but… D-Dad and G-Grandma a-aren't a-aura u-users!" She said, beginning to sound hysterical. Indigo sighed sadly, and looked to Auberon to see if he had any ideas. He shook his head.

TJ was sitting confused with the whole situation, Nevee sitting by him being strangely quiet, probably able to tell the mood was not right for her to be her insane self, and after a minute or two TJ suggested they go to their room and they left. Gem was sat sighing, not sure what to do now, she'd wished she could keep this secret a lot longer, but eventually she stood up and left, telling the others she had an Authoress errand to run in the centre of town.

Shortly after Gem had left, a certain yellow eyed boy stood up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and making the light fixture shake. Indigo saw this, and she quickly stood up too, she knew that the tension in the room was obviously too much for him now, and she also knew that though this was her chance to confront him that it could also be a fatal mistake when he was so tense from the atmosphere around him. She ran out of the room, slamming the door as well, but not hard enough to create the same shaking effect as Jaspa's slam.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"What's the big idea, huh?-!" Indigo said as she came out into the hallway, Jaspa was standing with his hands against one of the walls, taking deep breaths, eyes closed.

"The tension was much too much for me, Sketchit." Jaspa said sharply, fingers straining into a clenched position against the pink wall of the hallway. Indigo flinched, the use of her last name hitting her hard.

"I'm not talking about that you idiot! I gathered that all on my own!" She snapped, hands on her hips. "I'm talking about how you're totally ignoring me and acting like a right jerk again!"

"I'm talking now aren't I?" Jaspa said sarcastically, making Indigo clench her fingers around her hips.

"That is not what I meant and you know if, _Strong_!" She retorted, adding extra emphasis to his last name to get the message across. Jaspa's fists clenched tighter against the wall, and Indigo could almost swear she could see indents the shape of his fists in the wall.

"Just leave me alone Sketchit."

"Look at me!"

"Leave me alone."

"I said damn look at me!"

Jaspa pulled his fists away from the wall and stood facing Indigo with them clenched at his sides, teeth gritted and giving her a hard stare. Indigo stood calmly for a second, before suddenly:

*SLAP!*

Jaspa didn't really feel any pain from the slap, it was more like a minor irritation on his skin for just a few seconds, but somehow the practically unfelt force still turned his head to the side and left an red imprint of Indigo's delicate hand on his cheek, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of who was slapping him.

"That kiss was a mistake, Jas! An accident! And suddenly you go off all moody and jerky again, it's like you're back to how you were a couple of months ago, before you knew what happened to me! Do you have any idea how much it hurt when you walked off as if I'd committed some unforgivable act right in front of you?-! You're the only one I can talk to about what happens, the only one who's ever tried to protect me from him!" The blonde girl said, tearing up a little now, blue eyes shining, and fists shaking. Jaspa turned his head to face her again, looking at the girl stunned.

"Indigo…" He said quietly, before gently pulling Indigo to his chest, a little awkwardly. Indigo let out a small 'uh?' and her hands relaxed, arms still by her sides and her face turning into an expression of stunned shock. "I… I… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to seem offensive when I left… I… was just tense… your lip's skin is so thin, I could feel the… blood… running beneath it… if I'd stayed like that too long then believe me, it would not have ended well."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense…" Indigo said, still a little stunned.

"Forgive me?"

"If I can slap you again." Jaspa laughed at this, and looked at her, her looking up at him with a cheeky smile, hands now pressed against his cold chest.

"It's your own hand you'll be breaking."

"Oh as if."

"Want to bet it?"

"Hm… yeah, I do, how about the wager being another kiss?"

"…"

"Joking, joking… Hm… how about I win, we… um… um… If I win I get a hug, if you win you just have to kiss my hand better!"

"How about you just listen and not do it?" Jaspa suggested, blushing. Indigo pouted, "Fine, fine… give it your best shot."

Indigo giggled, before she slapped him doubly hard around the face… when a crack echoed through the corridor.

"OW!"

"Told you so… *sigh*"

~X~X~X~

"Hotaru, Lucy!" Gem said as she ran into the centre of a small nearby town where she had instructed the two ex-members of TUA to meet her. She spotted Lucy's bright purple hair easily, and ran straight over to the pair. Hotaru was sitting on the edge of a fountain, Lucy sitting on the ground beside it, but both quickly stood up when they saw their authoress coming toward them.

"Gem," Lucy said, "How're the others?"

"Fine as they can be when they just found out about Jasper and when one of my plans for Indigo and Jaspa backfired… god nothing is going right…" Gem sighed, brushing some hair behind her ear. "Unless your little mission went well that is?" She asked, hinting at them to spill.

"It went fine; we got what you asked for. Here are the two files of the ones who got Jasper, and we did a little spying on the base too. Oh, and we also deleted our files from the main database." Hotaru said, handing over two printed off wads of paper about 10 pages long each, and I mean A4 pages, double sided too.

"Whoa, TUA sure are thorough…" Gem said as she flicked through it. Aura and history had the most detail, but there were also things like family – mainly so they could track them down – as well as a section that said 'Estimated Life Span', referring to whenever the seal was set off inside them, and how long they believed that person would last underneath the seal's effects. "Niamh… Niamh… where have I heard that name before…"

"Well, we've got all that, and that Niamh girl seems to be the main guard on Jasper and the other Ketchum's cells right now, unusual duty for an Elite."

"I know it's unusual, but it's not unheard of if the elite has done something wrong, correct?" Gem said, sitting on the edge of the fountain as she flicked through the files.

"Correct, but look at her record, spotless except for one time a few years ago she couldn't complete a kill." Hotaru replied, pointing out the long section dedicated to her service record.

"Strange… this is definitely the most recent record, yes?"

"Of course, the old ones are deleted the second the new one is put on, so it has to be. There'll never be unneeded, unmonitored files in the database, too much a risk for a leak." Lucy said.

"They're clever, I'll give them that…" Gem sighed, finishing flicking through Niamh, and about to move to Weston's before something on her basic profile on the front page – Name, DOB, Current Age, Basic Aura Level and Colour, Rank, and whether they had a seal or not, and if so what type. "Niamh… Anderson?"

"Yeah, Anderson. I actually remember her… she gets promotions rather quickly, and she has to use a special wooden wand to use her aura, I think she's an implantee." Hotaru said, "Why?" She then added curiously, not expecting the Authoress to recognise a name from TUA.

"Jasper's old best friend, her name was Niamh Anderson… she disappeared one day, and that girl always did have an unusual aura, a weak pink colour, it wasn't powerful, but…" Gem quickly scanned down until she reached the basic aura:

**Pink (Attracter), Implantee Strength (Extreme)**

"My bloody god… this all fits…" Gem gasped, putting the report on her lap, "Niamh disappeared one day, after there had been reports of unidentified men in the woods, and people going missing from Viridian and Pallet town… Niamh ran off into the woods alone one day, and no one ever found her. Pink Aura is very rare, right?"

"Extremely."

"And with its manipulative powers, TUA is after it a lot?"

"Yup, correct again. Geez, you know this all yourself, why keep confirming?"

"Because I can't believe what I'm seeing! This is her! Jasper's friend! This means… he could be in good hands! I know that girl, she's never going to allow herself to be manipulated into something, a quality I believe that very Aura gave her! She's still going to be good at heart, she'll not hurt him unless she's being watched! And even then, she likely won't do it so bad it could majorly hurt him! My god we could have someone else on the inside!" Gem said, sounding a bit excited.

"Don't count on it, even if she is on our side there's no guarantee we can talk to her, or that she'll risk her life. Look at that seal, that's one of the most advanced seals out there! And it's on its test run, the Solar Seal, it's said to literally burn you from inside out! It kills off your aura, then when you have just that little bit of life left it completely destroys the body! No trace at all! TUA aren't even risking the mysterious, unexplained death bodies anymore, they want to completely destroy all evidence of the death!" Hotaru said, shuddering a bit at the thought. "You know how bad the other seals are, this is probably the worst yet!"

"They just have to continue to make this difficult don't they? God, does this team even have a weakness? At least with all the other teams it was relatively easy to defeat them once their plans were apparent, Team Rocket may still be going but not as strong as before, Galactic is inactive after we found out their weakness and defeated them a few years back, Magma and A-… oh shit." Gem said when she saw the looks she got from the other two after she said about Galactic.

"You… took down Galactic… a couple of years back?" Lucy asked, eyes wide.

"More than a couple… it was… um… around the time the kids were a year or so old…" Gem sighed, knowing with how bad at lying she was she wasn't going to be able to get her way out of this one, "Secret Police, International Department… I'm not just a gym leader and authoress, okay? No way am I as qualified as Nathen is in things, he's done nearly everything… but I've done a bit of undercover work in the past decade or so… Mainly under Galactic, but at one point I took down Magma and Aqua's main bases, just not the whole group… I was known as 'Pluto' within the Galactic Ranks… I brought them down in about three months with a bit of help off Looker's son… they were still in the stages of redesigning their plan, thank god we managed… Sorry I kept this from you guys, it's just, well, it is the _Secret_ Police."

"Then why don't you call upon them again?" Hotaru asked. Gem shook her head.

"They specifically refused to go against TUA, they're too much a risk to any of the lives of the Officers and Detectives, sure normal police can arrest grunts and stuff, and a high ranking member occasionally, but infiltration is considered too much a risk…"

"Don't you have access to the equipment and stuff still though? Computers, disguises."

"Dude, I don't need the police for that. Why?"

"Infiltration, they aren't familiar with your aura, with the right hacking you could make it seem like you've been there forever, add in a temporary mass memory-change then presto, you're in!" Hotaru said, clicking her fingers.

"It's not that simple, my false identities take time, but that's a plan for later at least… now come on, we need to head back to the others and see how everything's going." Gem sighed, shoving the files in her bag and standing up. Hotaru and Lucy nodded, and then Gem clicked her fingers and they teleported.

~X~X~X~

**Me: So there we go, Authoress/Me gets something more interesting to her name and Indigo gave herself a broken hand… gee, I've made a bunch of brain boxes haven't I? *heavy sarcasm***

**Jaspa: I am.**

**Me: Waah! Don't sneak up on me like that! Hang on, how did you get here?**

**Jaspa: *shrug* Are you sure I'm really here? **

**Me: Are you implying something?**

**Jaspa: More like do you know all my gifts yet? *chuckles, then goes***

**Me: …I'm scared now! Eek! U-Uh, R&R!**


	49. Ep 48: Secrets

**Me: And we're back again! To be fair, I didn't really have a plan for this chapter, but now I totally do! Yay! At the end it'll lead into next chapter, a small idea I have that Final Heir helped me come up with, or should I say basically just came up with alone with something of mine on DA, that will probably end up mostly improvised when I get to that chapter, I ain't got a clue what to make happen! XD Anyway, here we go!**

**Episode 48- Secrets**

**"Last chapter… god do I honestly have to keep doing this? This is getting annoying, they know what happened last chapter, they read it! *waits for the hit before realising Gem wasn't able to get to him* Oh yes! I can say what I like now!"**

"Don't count on it; I will kill you when I get back instead! Only this chapter and the next before I can come back! Keep that in mind, dude!" Gem said, looking up at the sky.

"Finally we'll be getting rid of you!" Auberon said, walking downstairs into the lobby. Gem was just walking back inside with Hotaru and Lucy.

"I'll still be in the sky, Auberon. What're you doing down here anyway? How's Scarlet?" Gem asked.

"She's just fallen asleep, I took her to our room. I was actually just coming to find the Nurse for Indigo." The elfy boy replied, "But it seems she's busy elsewhere."

"Why are you getting the nurse? Has something happened?" Lucy asked, stepping forward.

"She broke her hand. 'Pparently she went to punch or slap him but got the wall instead." Auberon shrugged. Gem immediately knew that wasn't the full story, and doubted it was the wall she hit, but didn't say anything about it, knowing that fist could easily be used on her.

"We could fix that, easily." Hotaru volunteered, also stepping forward, "Aura can do a broken hand in seconds, depending on how bad it is, longest it took me to do one is a minute."

"How many broken hands have you healed?" Auberon said, giving her a weird look. Hotaru shrugged.

"You have no idea how pathetic Initiates who just learned about their aura can be." She said simply. Auberon sweatdropped. "Well, lead us to the v-…' she received a loud cough, and immediately changed her wording, 'the _nerd_ slapper!"

Close one.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Thanks Hotaru…" a very embarrassed Indigo said as her hand was finished healing. Hotaru smiled, stopping the glow of her aura and standing.

"No problemo, Indigo. Just don't go slapping brick walls again, okay? It's not good for the bones." She said with a teasing tone. Indigo blushed.

"Well, guys, it's getting late. You two off to bed, Auberon go to your room with Scarlet too, I'll join Indigo and Jaspa in a while, okay?" Gem said as she stood from the bed. Indigo and Jaspa both nodded, passing each other a smile before they clambered into their beds. Auberon walked out and went to his and Scarlet's room, and the last three left and wandered down to the lobby soon after.

"Gem?"

"Hm?"

"I was wondering… is there more to you…? After you told us about your Secret Police stuff… it got me thinking… are you honestly just a human girl from another world? Or is there more?" Hotaru said, sitting down on a sofa arm. Gem sighed.

"Do I have to talk about it…?"

"It'll all come out sooner or later, Gem." Lucy said, sitting on the sofa by Hotaru. Gem sighed again, walking over and sitting herself on an armchair, burying her head against her hands.

"Alright… If I… really must… You're right, I'm not just a human girl from another world, I'm not even technically _from_ another world at all."

"What…? But… you have a family there, and that Walter fellow! Of course you're from there!" Hotaru exclaimed suddenly. Gem gave her a small glare, which settled her down immediately.

"Sure, I have a family there. But they're not _really_ my family, genetically, yes, but not really. Before you say anything, let me explain my whole story, please, it's hard for me to talk about and I might snap if you interrupt me." Gem said, sitting up and leaning back into the chair. Hotaru and Lucy both nodded, a little nervously. Gem sighed, and closed her eyes.

"I was born in the small region of Monoko, just off Pokoh, the two of you have probably heard of it. My family was happily living in Budbloom Town… my mother, my father, and me. I was about seven, and I would endlessly play my days away with my dad's Infernolf's little Embolf pup, and my own little Bunnop and Hopare… but one day I thought it would be smart to run out to play in the dark woods. I got lost, and I couldn't find my way home at all…"

**_Years Ago..._**

"Mommy?-! D-D-Daddy?-!" A young Gem, hair nearly a pure blonde, called out in the darkness. In her arms was a small white creature with brown eyes, it had long tufted ears, the tips a creamy brown colour, and a pair of fluffy tails of the same colour. It had tufts of the same colour fur on its cheeks, and around its ankles.

"Bunnop… Bun…" The rabbit Pokémon, native to Monoko, whimpered from the girl's arms.

"I-Its ok-okay B-Bunnop, I-I'll g-get u-us out of here." Gem said, hugging her little Pokémon closer to her. Bunnop continued to whimper.

Gem ran around in the darkness, trying to find a way out of the woods, or somewhere to hide. She couldn't find anywhere, and was soon getting scared, crying as she ran around.

"M-Mommy! D-Daddy! P-Please! S-Someone! I-I'm s-scared!" She cried, whimpering more. Something moved in the bushes behind her, making her jump and shriek. Bunnop jumped from her arms and ran off in fright, leaving Gem all alone. "B-Bunnop!"

"Kiddo? Hey, Kiddo?" A voice said from behind her, where the bushes that had moved were. She turned around, jumping, scared, crying.

"Wh-Who's th-t-there?-!" She exclaimed. A man stepped out of the bushes, dressed in a dark orange jacket with black bands around the shoulders, large 'E's on the lower arms. Beneath that he wore a black t-shirt, and on his legs a pair of black jeans with dark orange stitching and more E's on the lower legs, heavy boots beneath that. "Wh-Who're you?-!"

"Don't worry, Kiddo. My name's Brett, I'm just gonna help you, okay?" The man said in a calm voice, stepping forward. Gem flinched and backed off, scared still. Then, in her haste, she tripped over a rock, landing on her back, and grazing her arm. "You're sure a klutzy one aren't you? Don't worry, honestly I'm just going to help you out. Come on, I won't hurt you."

"G-Go away!" Gem whimpered, clutching her arm. Her eyes darted around for an escape, at this age her eyesight was fine, but unable to see one she tried to clamber to her feet again, before the man grabbed her good arm, and gently stopped her. "L-Lemme go!"

"Calm down, it's okay, I'm from Team Existence, we only want to help. How long have you been out here?" Brett said, voice still calm, soothing almost. Gem calmed down a bit, sniffling.

"A-A d-day o-or s-so… I-I think…" The eight year old said, wiping her eyes. Brett smiled, brushing his light blonde hair over his shoulders, it reaching to just below them, and then stood.

"Come with me, I know somewhere safe for you to stay." Brett said softly, holding out his hand. Gem looked at it, and was about to take it, when a howl ripped through the quiet atmosphere and in ran a Pokémon, one Gem recognised.

"Embolf!" She cheered. A small, cute little wolf pup had run into the trees, he had small ears, and a short snout with a highly sensitive nose, deep eyes, though its eyesight isn't all that good, its main fur is a deep charcoal colour, with a tint of red, whilst its tail is a long burning flame. Its paws have a flame around them, but its weak and barely noticeable, and around its eyes are white patches, like a smoke cloud around them. The wolf cub barked and snarled at the man, fur seeming to glow from some glint of moonlight it caught from the canopy of trees.

"Hey, hey, calm down little pup. I'm not going to hurt your little friend." Brett assured in that same calm voice. Embolf snarled for a moment more, before grunting and stopping its defensive act, hopping into Gem's young arms. She hugged him.

"I missed you Embolf! How did you find me?" She said cheerily.

"Embolf all have a sort of homing instinct to someone they are attached to, it must have found you that way. Now kiddo, come with me." Brett said.

"My name's Gemma, not Kiddo." Gem pouted, but following after the man as he walked away.

"Alright, Kiddo, I'll try and remember that." Brett teased. Gem giggled.

**_End Flashback…_**

"I didn't understand what a huge mistake I'd made going with him. He seemed like a nice guy, friendly, he treated me like a little sister, and I enjoyed that, having someone who I could play with again. I missed my parents, sure, but 'big brother' Brett and all his friends seemed really nice, and they could all do really cool tricks." Gem let out a dry chuckle at this, humourless.

"Wait… he wasn't from…?" Lucy said, recalling something from back in TUA that rang a bell. The uniform seemed to be familiar to her, and Hotaru soon caught on too.

"Yes… he was from Team Existence… biggest mistake of my life. He seemed like someone I could trust, but on my tenth birthday…

**_Three Years Later…_**

"Brett? Brett? Have you seen Embolf, Brett?" Gem said as she wandered around, trying to find her faithful little wolf cub in the huge base. She just about found the man after pushing through many, many similarly dressed men, some of which she knew, to get to him. Brett turned to her.

"He's sleeping, Gemma." He said. Gem frowned, seeing they were in a room she didn't recognise, and tried to peer around the man in the orange and black uniform, something she was so used to seeing now, and often wore herself. Brett stepped to block her sight again, making her frown more, trying to see over the other side, but he moved again.

"What're you hiding Brett?" She asked.

"Nothing, Gemma. It's nothing." Brett insisted, trying to turn her around and get her out of the room. Gem wasn't having it though, and she grabbed him by the arm and forced him out of the way, eyes widening and a shocked, horrified gasp exiting her mouth when she saw the sight before her.

Laying on a table was her beloved little Embolf, but his fur was matted and pale. He didn't seem to be breathing, and she swore there was blood in his fur around the matted areas.

"Wh-What've you done to him?-!" Gem screamed, covering her mouth in horror.

"It's just a little experiment, Gemma. Nothing to fret about." Brett lied, trying to turn her and make her leave again.

"H-He's d-dead! He's DEAD! Don't l-lie t-to me!" Gem cried, shoving him and running to Embolf. "Embolf! E-Embolf! E-Embolf p-please!"

"We're going to have to do it now…" One of the men muttered to Brett. Gem heard, but pretended not to, continuing to try and rouse her loyal partner from his eternal slumber.

"She's nowhere near ready, things could go wrong. The DNA extract from the Embolf is too fresh!" Brett hissed back.

"We have to do it now or she'll get out!"

"Oh fine! Gimme a second." Brett sighed, going over and placing a hand on Gem's shoulder. Gem turned with a glare, "Gemma, it was necessary… he was… ill." He lied again.

"W-With what?-!" Gem said, not believing him at all, "He w-was h-healthy! D-Don't lie!"

"He was hurt… that's why there's blood… but… with some help from you, we could save him." Brett continued to lie, holding out a hand.

"H-How…?" Gem asked, getting curious, starting to believe. Maybe what they'd said whilst muttering was actually a way to help Embolf.

"Come with me, I'll show you." Brett said, that soothing tone back again. Gem was still a little wary, looking at Embolf's body, before taking the hand and letting him lead her to a room. She got more nervous by the second as this happened, seeing one of the men from the room following them, holding something.

They reached a room, the walls were all white, there was machinery everywhere. Gem was extremely scared now, this was a laboratory, she guess that it could be something scientific, but that wasn't what scared her, it was the table in the middle of the room, with braces to hold something down, with a set of tools by it. Brett shoved her toward it, before lifting her up, and fastening the braces on her wrists, ankles, and waist.

"Wh-What're you doing?-! L-Let m-me out! Wh-What're you doing?-!" She cried, tearing up.

"We're making you stronger, and in a way restoring part of Embolf." Brett said. "He wasn't supposed to die for this, normally they survive the extraction process, he was too young, too weak. But we have what we need."

Gem whimpered, trying to break out of the holds, but they were fastened tightly, she didn't have a way out.

"We need to make her black out, so she doesn't feel it." Someone said.

"No, no time." Brett said.

"You were the one trying to stop us doing this now, Commander." Another voice said, this one sounded female.

"Well, I changed my mind, let's do this."

**_"I'll spare you what happens next… it was painful… they… merged my DNA with that of my dead Embolf's… but… something went wrong… they'd done the process many a time, but the DNA was so fresh… and I wasn't unconscious… I was merged, but I got more than I was supposed to, and on top of that… my strong aura made everything even more complicated… I… I… I went crazy…"_**

"Whoa whoa!" Brett exclaimed, backing off. Gem's anger and hurt, from the buried loss of her parents and seeing her most loyal friend dead, translated into sheer power. With her new gifts she powered heat into her wrists – as if she had the flames on her joints like Embolf – and her ankles to break the bonds holding her down. She broke the waist band with heat in her hands, and then shooting an Ember out of her hands she ran from the room, quickly.

She didn't look back, she ran through the base, burning everyone she came to with her Ember, or firing an Aura Sphere at them, something she had been training herself in secretly after seeing the men in black and purple visiting the base a couple of times. She continued to run, reaching the exit and shoving the doors open, knocking a couple of grunts out with them, and burst into the air outside. She had no idea where she was, she was alone, she needed a way to another region, somewhere to start over, but right now she hadn't enough rationality in her head to make her run for a port, instead she ran through the woods, alone, fire burning around her wrists and catching the leaves as she ran. She didn't care. She couldn't even feel the burning, it barely affected her. In fact, she powered the wrist flames up more, making the inferno grow and grow.

After a while, the power overload faded, though she could still feel the power inside of her, and the pain from the procedure registered again. She collapsed, the flames around her washing over her, but still causing hardly any damage.

Even later, she opened her eyes when she felt something that _did_ really burn wash over her body, making her cry out in mild pain. It was uncomfortable, wet… water. Would this… freaky… change, mean she couldn't enjoy water at all anymore? Or could she manage it? Those two questions flew from her head as she searched for the source of the water, soon seeing someone was using a Surf attack to put out the fire. She jumped to her feet, but collapsed again immediately after, causing her to yelp. The procedure had taken more of a toll on her than she expected.

"Huh…? That sounded kinda familiar… oh man wanna bet ending up in the wrong time I've bumped into someone I know?" A female voice said.

"Wh-Who's there?-!" Gem yelled. She also now observed her eyesight had grown weaker. A girl walked out into view, or should I say a young woman. She looked around 19 or 20, and had long brown hair, with some blonde in it somewhere. But other than that, Gem couldn't tell much about her, her eyesight was betraying her brain now, she was unable to see much more than a blur of colours.

"Calm down, I'm here to help."

"L-Last time I heard th-that I-I ended up t-trusting s-someone I shouldn't've!"

"Honestly, you can trust me." Gem looked at the blurry figure, and despite everything, she felt as if she could really trust her.

**_End of Flashback…_**

"I can't say who that person is… but she's now a good friend… she ended up there by accident, but she really helped me… she got me to Hoenn, I got my first Pokémon, and I joined the secret police at the age of ten and half… and they re-homed me… everyone has their double, you see… in the human and animal's world, there is one person for every person here, a double… and in the human world, the double of me had gone missing, she was dead… the secret police used some special technology, and they sent me there, for safety. I used my unlocked aura to make them forget their daughter had gone missing, and transferred their memories of me into my head so if they mentioned anything, I could respond… the rest is history… I lived on there, mostly unconnected to the Pokémon world, before I got involved in writing… and thus, my connection was reborn, I started getting too involved in the world again, which resulted in this me, the one who spent more of her life here, as if she'd never left…" Gem sighed. The other two looked at her in shock. "Freak out all you like, I'm a freak of nature, another experiment."

"Oh man, Gem, don't think we'll think any less of you for all that! Man, we've seen plenty of people with worse problems whilst in TUA!" Hotaru said, standing up, "Heck, it's practically normal!"

"Oh yeah?-! This is normal?-!" Gem said as she stood up, lighting up powerful flames around her wrists and ankles. "I lost my family, found someone I thought I could trust, then had him do this to me!"

"Calm, Gem! Don't burn the place down!" Lucy said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Gem sighed.

"I'm a freak and I know it, I try not to think about this, it keeps me as my insane, childish, somewhat friendly self… but… it's all stirred again… I… need to calm down…" The authoress said, walking toward the door.

"Um… Gem?" Hotaru said. Gem looked at her, "Um… what're those lights?"

Gem looked and indeed she was covered in little white lights, making her widen her eyes. "What the hell…?-!" She exclaimed.

"Big Mouth what the hell is going on?-!" Scarlet's voice yelled from the staircase. The three turned, and saw the rest of the group – most looking sleepy – standing on the stairs, and all but TJ were also covered in the weird white light. Gem quickly put out the flames on her wrists and ankles.

"I don't know! I'm as stumped as you are!" Gem said. The lights slowly overtook them, and just as the room was covered in a bright light, six Poké Balls opened.

When the light faded, there were more humans there than before, and no Pokémon from the Poké Balls they had all heard open… at least… not actual Pokémon.

"What… the… heck?-! Who are you?-!" Lucy exclaimed looking at the people.

"My god master, what now?" One of them said, facepalming.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Well, here's the chapter! Gem's past is now (mostly) revealed, Monoko is another region I'll be making, its Pokoh's sister region. Embolf, Bunnop, Hopare, and Infernolf are from that region, as well as Team Existence. One person knows who the girl that helped Gem is, the rest of you probably don't. Well, next chapter we'll see who these people are, and where the others have disappeared too, and the Pokémon! If ya look at my DA, you should know. Anyway, R&R! **

**PS: The birthday of this story is in Three Days! *gasp* Its been going on so long! But ya know? Try as I might, I doubt I'll finish a special in time... so... just say happy birthday in advance! HAPPY B'DAY SCARLET'S ROAD!**


	50. Ep 49: Human or Pokemon?

**Me: Next chapter time! I can't wait to do this one! *giggle* It's a fun chapter, or two! Here we go! **

**Episode 49- Human or Pokémon? ******

**"Last chapter, Lucy, Hotaru and our very own authoress Gem had an important chat, and something unusual happened! Not that anything unusual is, well, an unusual happening here!"**

"That was a lame attempt at humour, man!" One of the people said, before he covered his mouth with unbelievably wide dark green-blue eyes. "Holy crap I spoke human! Holy crap I did it again! Holy crap I-…!"

He was cut off by one of the others punching him atop the head, "Shut it! You're as annoying speaking human as Pokémon!"

"Pokémon…?" TJ said, eyes still wide as he walked down the last of the stairs, alarmed, not knowing where the others had gone.

"Oh boy, if what I think has just happened has happened, this is gonna be interesting…" Hotaru groaned as she looked at the seven's auras. The tallest of them spoke up, he was plenty taller than the three remaining of the recognisable group, and the 'newcomers', his hair was a pale blonde and fell down to his mid back, and he had one golden eye, the other blue. He wore a red jacket, with a yellow shirt showing at the top of the zip, along with a pair of dark red jeans with cream bottoms, and a grey pair of sneakers.

"Okay, who on earth are you, and where are Nevee and the others?" TJ said, stepping a few steps forward. Now would be a time to note his distinctive British accent.

"TJ!" One of the girls amongst the seven cheered, her brown and cream curls bouncing as she jumped on TJ's back, light brown eyes cheerful, giggling before reaching up to tighten the cream ribbon she had tied around her head. She was wearing cream shorts and a brown t-shirt with puffy sleeves.

"Eh? Hey… you kinda remind me of little… wait… Eve?-!" TJ exclaimed as he jumped a bit.

"Hi!"

"That's what I thought… these seven, are the other six's Pokémon turned into humans!" Hotaru said, looking around the six. Now that you looked closely, they did look familiar. The second one to speak – the one with the dark blue-green eyes – had reddish hair, messy, and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing an orange-red shirt with a pair of jeans, and a pair of red-orange sneakers. The one who had hit him had skin about the same light brown colour as Auberon's, with dark brown eyes, and dark green hair in a neater style that swept to one side, with a couple of hairs out of place. He was dressed mostly in green and brown. The three yet to speak at all was made up of a shy looking girl with green hair cut to her chin with an orange streak in the front, wearing an orange ribbon and having eyes of the same shade. Her clothes were made up of a green, no-sleeved top with a rounded collar that tied around her neck to keep it up, on her bottom half she wore black leggings and an orange, ruffled skirt, with a pair of green sneakers, with one black sock and one orange.

The final two seemed to just be sweatdropping at their companions, though the male was blushing from the fact the female was holding his hand. The girl had blue hair up in a pair of short pigtail on the sides of the very top of her head, and had her fringe and two streaks in the pigtails coloured orange, together with her eyes. Her face was dotted with freckles, like Eve's, and she was dressed in a blue strap top where the straps crossed at the front, with an orange tank top beneath it, as well as a pair of orange crops. The boy had green hair, its many separate layered strands seems to somewhat resemble leaves, and his eyes were a bright red colour. He was dressed in a scruffy green t-shirt with lights green sleeves poking out, and had a dark green scarf on, along with a pair of jeans and sneakers.

"Hi." The Girl said, obviously little Mudkip.

"Um… hi." TJ said, even he, who was actually nearly as quirky as Nevee, was getting freaked out by this new occurrence.

"Okay… so… if you seven are here and human, then… where are you trainers? And more importantly, _what_ are they?" Lucy said.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Ugh… where are we…?" Scarlet's familiar voice said from darkness. "Who am I…?"

"Don't say that, Scarlet, with your family history that is so not funny!" Gem's voice joined in. You couldn't see, but you could tell Scarlet was rolling her eyes at this.

"Geez, lighten up Authoress."

"She has a good point with that one, Scarlet." Auberon's voice chorused in.

"Shuddup Aube."

"Eee! S-Someone turn on the lights!" Nevee squealed.

"How? We ca-…!" Indigo was about to say before the light source somewhere in the room light it up, illuminating the group of six to each other.

The looks on their faces were priceless.

"HOLY CRAP WHY ARE WE ALL EEVEELUTIONS?-!" Auberon screamed in his usual paranoid voice, jumping higher than ever in his now Leafeon body. He didn't look like any natural Leafeon, though, the leaves were all the same red as his normal hair and his eyes were his own.

"Why am I the same Eeveelution as Gem?-!" Scarlet exclaimed right afterwards, causing the black fur atop her head – normally yellow – to fall into her eyes and her brush it away with her paw casually, before falling flat on her face.

"How did I know that would be the first thing she'd say?" Jaspa said, standing on all four paws. He was an Espeon, but the usually lilac fur was a golden colour, and the gem in the centre of his forehead black.

"Look, we have more important things to worry about than the fact you're the same Eeveelution as big mouth!" Indigo, a Vaporeon with black insides to her fins, said, standing up beside the Espeon Jaspa.

"But it's so not fair! Why do I have to be the same species as the annoying authoress?" Scarlet whined. Gem, her fur all just a little darker than a normal Flareon's, flicked her hard in the face with her tail, "Ow!"

"This is coooool!" Nevee giggled, she was a little Eevee with red fur around her neck and on the end of her tail.

"It's _not_ cool! This is the meaning of _un_cool!" Scarlet said.

"Isn't it a bit cool being a Pokémon though?" Auberon said, giving her a look. Scarlet shrugged.

"It'd be a hell of a lot better if Gem wasn't the same Pokémon as me!" The Ketchum girl replied. Gem sweatdropped.

"I so knew this'd be your reaction… anyway, look, something has obviously happened to us, I don't have a clue what' she ignored all the suspicious looks she got after this comment 'but something has happened. From what it looks like, we're in a room of a cave, and there's something else out there, we need to look and try and find a way out of this."

"We don't even know for sure where we are, cave or not. And where are the others? Why haven't they been turned into Pokémon?" Indigo asked,

"That's why we have to _explore_, Indigo. Duh." Auberon said, rolling his eyes. Indigo glared at him.

"I don't know why the others aren't Pokémon, Indigo, but it probably has something to do with the fact they are not permanent main characters, and we all are." Gem said, ignoring the little tiff between Indigo and Auberon, still not really in the mood to join in the banter of the group with quite as much enthusiasm as normal, "And I have to admit, Auberon is right, we need to explore to get out of here. But, we need to stay in contact somehow."

"I suppose if I tried hard enough, now I'm a psychic type I could try and work out a psychic link between us all, temporarily." The golden Espeon suggested, gem on his forehead growing.

"You just became a Pokémon, how can ya think you can master powers like that straight off the bat?" Scarlet said, giving him a weird look, before having to bat the fur out of her face yet again. Gem knew full well that with his vampiric gifts, the new form would only enhance them.

"At least let him try." Indigo defended.

"Geez, we can sure tell you two made up after whatever made ya wanna slap him." The unusually coloured Flareon said with a roll of her eyes. Indigo glared playfully.

"Need I remind you I'm currently super effective against you?"

"…Point taken."

"All of you shut up or I can't do this!" Jaspa barked. Everyone went dead silent. "Good children…" He muttered under his breath before closing his eyes and letting the black gem glow even brighter. He just about managed to concentrate with being able to hear Nevee's usual bouncing. It took over a minute of silence among the (very impatient) group, but then he opened his eyes and nodded, "Done it. Just try it out."

_"Authoress stinks."_ Auberon's voice said in their heads. He promptly also received a flick in the face from her tail, "Ow!"

"Now come on, we need to split into groups and go out searching." She said, walking toward the exit of the encircled room.

"How many to a group?" Indigo asked, tilting her finned head to the side, pawing at one of them as she got an itch.

"Two. There's three passages, I'll save you guys the trouble and go with Nevee, the rest of you can go in your usual duos, and you all know what they are." Gem said, "Eevee, come with me. _Geez its weird calling her that now._"

"Coming Authoress!" She giggled in response, hopping over to the Flareon.

"Good luck you guys, keep in touch." Gem said as she started to lead the Eevee away.

"You'll be the one needing luck!" Auberon snickered, before receiving an Ember, "Ow!" He yelped before the authoress ran off with the hyperactive Nevee on her tail… literally. The Eevee was holding onto Gem's tail with her teeth, and letting herself be dragged along. That girl will never cease to scare them.

"…Let's just go." Scarlet said with a huge sweatdrop. The others all nodded, and they ran off in the pairs we all know well.

~X~X~X~

"Asher, for god's sake stop eating so many hamburgers!" Turtwig said, smoking the Charmeleon-turned-human around the back of the head as he ate about his sixth burger… in two minutes.

"These guys are even more insane than their trainers…" Lucy said with a sweatdrop, sitting with Hotaru on the end of the canteen table. TJ was sitting with Eve latched onto him, talking to her and also talking to Muddy and Bulby. Blaziken sighed.

"Tell me about it. I'm not as insane as Gem, but my god these guys take it too a whole new level." He said, Tikamo quietly nodding by his side.

"Is she really always this quiet?" Hotaru asked with a sweatdrop.

"Unfortunately, yes. She takes her species shyness too far." Blaziken said, patting the girl's shoulder and making her stiffen up a little. "Tika, stop being so shy!"

"I-I can't help it… th-this is we-weird, B-Blaziken…" Tikamo said shakily. Blaziken sighs, and gave the girl a quick squeeze around the shoulders.

"Come on, it'll fix itself soon… or Gem'll fix it… though best not to count on the last one." Blaziken sighed, yet again.

"Hey, Blaziken?" A curious sounding Lucy asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you know about Gem's… past?" She said, hesitating a bit, wondering if it was just as tender a subject with the fire type as it was with Gem. Blaziken sighed, before nodding. He casually brushed some of his long hair out of his eye, before speaking.

"Yes, I was her first Pokémon, I know everything. Well… technically not her first." He said.

"Yeah, we know, she told us about her first one… how she lives with it I don't know, it's not so bad with the weird gifts and all that, that's normal to us, we've seen plenty worse… but seeing her first true Pokémon dead like that…"

"Yes, it was very hard on her… she blamed herself for a long time. She tries not to think about it, it hurts too much. It a miracle she even told you two, she never speaks a word about it even to me."

Hotaru was about to speak up, before a clash from the other end of the table caught the group's attention, all of them sweatdropping when they saw Asher was now running away from Turtwig, who had a squished Burger on his head.

"Nananana you can't catch me!" Asher laughed, sticking his tongue out at his friend before running out of the centre, followed by the Turtwig-turned-human.

"Hey! Guys wait up! It's the middle of the night for god's sake! Geez!" Muddy said as she got up too, and ran out.

"M-Muddy!" Bulby called after her, before also following.

"Guys! Oh my god they really are just as bad as their trainers…" Hotaru groaned, standing up, "We better go after them, there hasn't be TR around for a few chapters, and knowing Authoress this could be one of those annoying times they do appear!"

"…Good point, let's go! TJ, mind Poké-Sitting Tikamo and Eve for us?" Lucy said.

"I'd rather come, to be fair, girls." The boy replied as he stood up, "I haven't had much to do."

"Blame Authoress, everyone else does. Anyway, fine, come on then, just make sure Eve doesn't run off." Hotaru said. TJ nodded.

"Of course, if she's as like Nevee as she seems, she'll be just as scared of the night… Nevee told me that when she told me to leave a light on in our room." He added on the end when he got weird looks.

"Let's just go. Blaziken, you might as well look after Tikamo now." Lucy said.

"Alright, Tika, climb onto my back." Blaziken said, crouching. The shy girl clambered onto his back and held on tightly, "Let's go."

~X~X~X~

**_Nevee and Gem…_**

"Hey, Authoress?" Nevee said, in a mildly normal tone. Gem looked to her, managing a small smile.

"Yes, Nevee?"

"Why are you upset?" The ten year old asked, tilting her head to one side. Gem hesitated, confused by this, pretty sure she hadn't shown any sign she felt sad in any way. "I can feel it, Authoress. I can feel you're upset." It didn't take her to figure it out once Nevee said this.

"So you're an Empath too…" The authoress muttered to herself, before speaking aloud, "It's not something I can talk about, Nevee, I'm sorry."

"I see… I understand." Nevee smiled, her childish, cheerful little grin able to bring a genuine giggle bubbling from Gem's lips. "Hey, Gem?"

"Yes?" She asked again, wondering what it was this time.

"Do you think TJ likes me at all? Or does he think I'm weird like everyone else does?" Nevee asked, tone going solemn. Gem gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"He likes you, he's quirky too, just like you. He agreed to read you a story, right?" Nevee nodded, "There you go, that's some proof for you." _And believe me… if my friends and Pokémon who know my secret can still like me as a friend, then… you've got it easy… _She added in her head, making sure it didn't broadcast to the others.

"I hope so… I… think I like him… but I'm not sure, this is really weird for me…"

"You being this calm is weird, Nevee. Don't worry, you'll figure it out." Gem assured. Nevee smiled.

"Thanks Authoress…"

"No problem, now come on, we need to find a way out of here and back to TJ and the other two."

"And the Pokémon who came from our Poké Balls." Nevee pointed out. Gem looked at her for a minute, blankly, before facepawing.

"Crap… if that means what I think it does… we need to hurry, Eevee. Come on, let's go." Nevee nodded, and the two doubled their speed.

~X~X~X~

**_Auberon and Scarlet…_**

"_Where're you guys, Indigo, Jaspa?_" Scarlet thought to her friends who were somewhere else in the cave.

_-"And we're supposed to know, _how_ exactly?"_ Indigo thought back, sending a mental roll of her eyes too. Scarlet stuck her tongue out.

-"_Try and keep the line clear for if there's an actual problem, Scarlet."_ Jaspa added.

"_Fine, fine, see you guys later._" Scarlet whined, before stopping the mental communication and looking to Auberon. "Got any idea which way to keep going?"

"Nope, not a clue." The Leafeon beamed innocently, as if they weren't trapped in a cave in Pokémon's bodies. Scarlet facepawed, before falling flat on her face again, "You need to work on that."

"Well, hopefully we won't be stuck like this much longer, so I shouldn't have to 'work on' it." Scarlet said. Auberon shrugged.

"Who knows."

"Look, let's hurry, I wanna get out of here without any encounters with cave-dwelling Pokémon, okay?" Scarlet sighed, starting to walk on ahead. Auberon sped up to follow her.

"We could kick some Pokémon's ass any day, Scarlet!" He said in an enthusiastic tone. Scarlet smiled a bit.

"True, if it were something like a Geodude or something else weak, but knowing _our_ luck, it wouldn't be something so simple." She said. Auberon nodded knowingly. "Do you really think this is cool?"

"You would too if you and authoress weren't the same Pokémon."

"True."

"…Betcha can't catch me!" the odd-eyed ten year old then laughed before tearing off ahead as fast as his four legs would carry him.

"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!" Scarlet shouted after him before speeding after him.

The two messed around for a while, chasing each other, seeing who was the fastest. Both of them won plenty of the races, and both of them caught each other a lot, they were acting like they always would when they were little kids. You could almost imagine them as tiny Eevee doing the exact same thing as they were now.

The Flareon tackled the Leafeon at the end of their little game, the two rolling over a few times before landing laughing with Auberon below Scarlet. They laughed with each other for a while, before Scarlet rolled off and they just lay there.

"That was fun." Scarlet smiled.

"That sounds so wrong after the position we were in Scarlet." Auberon said sticking his tongue out. Scarlet smacked him with her tail playfully.

"Ew! That's so gross Aube!" She said, giggling. Auberon grinned.

Then suddenly, their calm playful little game was disrupted by a loud thud from the tunnel just up ahead. They both jumped and turned to face the tunnel, both looking freaked out.

"Wh-What was that?" Scarlet stuttered. There was another thump.

"It s-sounds like big footsteps." Auberon stammered back, gulping. They both looked at each other, "Wh-What do we do?"

"Uh… r-run?" Scarlet suggested, Auberon quickly nodding in agreement. The two turned around and ran off the way they came, _faster _than their legs could carry them.

A minute later, a small, cute little Larvitar wandered down the tunnel where they'd heard the loud, 'big' footsteps. He looked confused as to where the voices had gone at first, before shrugging and returning to playfully slamming his foot into the ground to use his earthquake attack again.

~X~X~X~

**_Indigo and Jaspa…_**

"Wonder how the others are doing…" Indigo pondered as she and Jaspa walked uneventfully down their pathway.

"Probably the same as us, not finding anything and wondering if we're ever getting out." Jaspa replied, looking around.

"You're always the pessimist, aren't you?" Indigo said with a small sigh, walking up close to Jaspa's side, the fins on her head brushing against the golden fur of his ears. He was barely hiding a blush.

"I've learnt to be that way, Indigo, I find it hard to see the good in things, especially recently with my own and your situations." He said as calmly as he could.

"You need to learn not to be that way, Jas. After all, I can keep up a good happy face, why not you? I try not to let my problem effect my whole life." The Vaporeon said. Jaspa shrugged.

"Mine _does_ affect my whole life, that's the problem, it never leaves me, when Dax isn't around you can pretend it hasn't happened, my condition is continuously with me, I can't stop it." Indigo's head nuzzled against his side. Jaspa nuzzled his head against hers.

"Everything'll work out…" She said softly, looking at him. Jaspa smiled a little.

"I hope so, Indi, I hope so." He said, smiling and nuzzling against her neck before quickly moving back a minute later when feeling the blood pulsing there. He now registered something that someone in his time in Pokoh had said to him… _"__I can also say that you're more afraid of what she thinks of you than you are of what you might do if you lose control of your little 'gift'."_ Was Kris right after all? If she was, did that mean he'd spent so much time worrying about her obviously perfectly normal view on him, scared she thought him a freak, when really he should've been scared and worrying about the little incidents that were now starting to occur? Her blood was beginning to tempt him. He'd been up close to many people recently, more than he wished, but only when he was really close to Indigo did he feel such an urge.

"Jas? Jas you okay?" Indigo asked, snapping him out of his thoughts instantly as he looked into her worried blue eyes.

"Um… yeah, I'm fine." He said hastily. Indigo frowned. He never said 'um', _ever_. Jaspa was too smart and too concentrated to ever need to say 'um'.

"If you're sure… come on, we need to find an exit." She said unsurely. Jaspa nodded.

~X~X~X~

"Asher you stupid prat get back here!" Turtwig called after Asher. Asher just laughed, "You idiot Team Rocket could be out here!"

"Like they'd know who we were!"

"Oh they would, that stupid Meowth of theirs would tell! You gotta remember he hears what we sound like when we speak Pokémon in human, duh brain!" Turtwig snapped.

"Ah shit good point…" Asher said, stopping running suddenly, not even slowing he just stopped on the spot, making Turtwig slam into him and them both to fall over. "Oi!"

"That was your fault!"

"So?"

"Guys! There you are! For god's sake can you guys go a day without arguing over something?" Muddy said as she and Bulby reached them, both of them pulling the other two to their feet again.

"'Course we can." Asher said, folding his arms.

"Even I doubt we can, Asher." Turtwig said with a sweatdrop. Asher smacked him around the back of the head, "I am so going to hate not having long arms again…" The Turtwig-turned-human added as he smacked him back.

"Guys, stop it, seriously." Bulby said quietly.

"Psst! Are they who I think they are?" A female voice said from the bushes. Turtwig facepalmed.

"Didn't I say this was going to happen? I just knew it, I just knew it…" He groaned, facepalming again and again. Muddy stopped him doing so by shoving his hand down, "Gee you're stronger than you look."

"Suck it up, grass boy." Muddy said, before saying to Bulby, "No offence Bulby." Bulby just smiled.

"Robot time?" Meowth's voice said.

"If you have one…" Gareth replied.

"I _always_ have one, man!" Meowth snickered, before the four head a loud noise as something rose from the earth and knocked down several trees. It was a basic robot-robot, with a huge R on the chest.

"Ah crap!" Was all Asher could think of to say, "We can't attack it now!"

"This humanised thing is turning into an annoyance now…" Muddy said, standing in a defensive stance in front of Bulby. Turtwig getting into a similar stance too.

But of course, stances were nothing against Team Rocket's rubber gloved metal arms. The arms grabbed onto both grass types, and pulled them off the ground and into the air in front of the big robot.

"Bulby/Turtwig!" The two yelled.

"Hehe! No way can you get them back now!" Gwen smirked, laughing that weird evil cackle.

"Oh we'll see about that!" Muddy said, "Now I've got longer legs I'm using 'em!" She added before bending her legs and then jumping up she managed to latch onto the arm.

"Holy crap Mudkip!" Asher exclaimed, "Dude! That was _high_!"

"Shut up and get up here too!" Muddy said as she tried to get a grip with her feet, but finding the metal was too slippy, "Crap!" She yelped as she started to fall when he hands' grip gave way.

"G-Gotcha!" Bulby's voice said, when a hand grabbed hers as she fell. Muddy smiled, squeezing the hand.

"Whoa!" Asher said as he just about made it to the other arm, pulling himself up to sit on top of it. Turtwig sweatdropped.

"Bulby gets the somehow heroic Mudkip, and I got the crazy Charmeleon? Awesome…" He said, extra sarcastic emphasis on the awesome.

"I could leave ya here ya know." Asher said, glaring. Turtwig just laughed.

"Just hurry up!" Muddy called over.

"Oi! Stupid twerps and deir Pokémon…" Meowth grumbled, pressing a button. The arms started to shake around violently, trying to throw the would-be saviours off them. Asher held on tightly, but Muddy's grip on Bulby's hand was not strong enough to keep her up, and she fell to the ground.

"Muddy!" Bulby exclaimed. Muddy shrieked as she fell, before landing on the ground right by the foot of the machine. Meowth snickered and pressed another button, making the foot lift, hovering over Muddy and slowly starting to go toward her, her frozen in fear, "Muddy! Move!"

She couldn't.

The foot was about to crush her, when suddenly a thick barrier of aura formed just above Muddy, stopping the foot from going any further, even if straining to keep the weight, but before it could shatter a rope – purple aura – shot out and grabbed Muddy, pulling her from under the foot right as the barrier snapped and the foot slammed to the floor.

"Lucy! Hotaru! Guys!" Asher said as he saw them, barely keeping on the arm by now.

"My god what have you gotten into now?" Blaziken said, raising an eyebrow when he saw them. Eve was just whimpered and clutching onto TJ, as scared of the dark as her trainer.

"Just help us for god's sake!" Turtwig said. Asher stood up on the arm, staying on the very end, the bit that connected to the body, which wasn't moving so much, and started to jump up and down, "Asher what _are_ you doing?-!"

"Trust me man!" Asher said, continuing to bounce as it started to break away from the main robot's body.

"Meowth! What's going on?-!" Gwen yelled. Meowth was panicking.

"I-I s-swear I thought it woulda stayed strong!" He spluttered. Asher was still jumping, and by now the arm was really starting to break, the wires could be seen and there were sparks. Then, the arm snapped.

"Whoa!" Both Asher and Turtwig exclaimed, landing on the ground. They both quickly got away from the machine so it couldn't try to squish them too, and stood with the others.

"Okay… now to get out Bulby." Blaziken said, "We could get him out in an instant normally… but now…"

"Leave it to me." Hotaru said as she formed a throwing dagger out of aura in her hand, throwing it was flawless accuracy and hitting the remaining arm, causing that to break too, dropping Bulby who quickly raced to the others, Muddy greatening him with a hug.

"Can I have the honours?" Lucy asked Hotaru.

"Go ahead."

Lucy smirked and formed an aura sphere in both hands, before looking to Team Rocket, and throwing them right at them. They hit the robot with a large bang and a cloud of smoke, before you could see the three being shot into the night sky.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The trio yelled as they always did, their little trademark star flashing in the sky with a 'ting'.

"We totally did it!" Asher said, punching the air. Turtwig gave him a smile now.

"Yeah, you did pal. Thanks for saving me." He said. Asher grinned.

"No problemo Twiggy!"

"…Just don't call me that." Turtwig said, sighing. _Guess it was too much to ask for him to be a normal friend, ey'?_ He thought to himself.

"Come on, let's get back to the centre before more shit happens!" Asher said.

"Spoken like a Ketchum, or should I say spoken like a _Scarlet_ Ketchum." Muddy said with a roll of her eyes. Asher shrugged.

~X~X~X~

"Now we're just waiting for Auberon and Scarlet… what's taking them so long?" Gem said as she peered down the tunnel they should be coming from.

"Wanna bet they got lost?" Indigo suggested, still close to Jaspa's side.

"The paths were all straight, I'm sure. No side paths, nothing." Gem said, shaking her head. Jaspa closed his eyes, and using his psychic gifts he got from his Espeon form, he scanned the tunnels.

"Um… they seem to be coming from your tunnel, Authoress." He said, gesturing to it with a paw. Gem raised an eyebrow, just as the fire type and grass type ran out of the tunnel, panting.

"Sorry… we're late… got… a little spooked…" Scarlet panted out, taking deep breaths. Auberon nodded.

"What happened to spook you? Even _Nevee_ wasn't scared in there!" Gem said.

"Some big Pokémon… was coming down… our tunnel…" Auberon panted. Gem raised her eyebrow further.

"There're no big Pokémon in there, I checked." Jaspa said, Gem nodding with him.

"Then what did we hear?" Scarlet asked.

"Probably a small Pokémon using earthquake." Indigo suggested, shrugging. Scarlet and Auberon exchanged a look before both slumping anime style.

"We got spooked by a baby…" The groaned in unison. The others all burst out laughing, Nevee completely oblivious to the situation but not passing up a chance to have a good giggle.

"Come on, let's keep going, you never know we could find a way to the others at the very least." The authoress said after she managed to stop laughing at them, just chuckling a little now.

And that was when the lights appeared on them again.

"Here we go again…"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Not as action packed as I wanted, but I got a bit of relationship building into it, and I got TR to appear! Plus, its long! Heh… anyway, the end was a little rushed because I made a promise that I _had_ to keep otherwise I'd have a couple of Pokémon set on m-… oh god no! NATHEN! ALEX! THEY GOT FREE AND THEY'VE COME FOR ME ANYWAY! EEEEEEK!  
Shadow (Zoroark): (Oh yes, time to chase!)**

**Pikachu (Alex's): (Allow me to join you!)**

**Blaze (Infernape…!): (And me too!)**

**Me: OF ALL POKÉMON WHYYYYY HIIIM?-! *starts to run already* MY GOD NATHEN SHADOW BETTER NOT BE AS FAST AS YOU SUGGESTED! EEEEK! **

**Blaze: (Payback time again!)**

***the three start to chase***


	51. Ep 50: Saving the few you can

**Me: MY GOD WHY THE HELL IS THIS HAPPENING?-! GUUYS! STOP! EEEK! SHADOW YOU WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO CHASE ME IF I DIDN'T GET THE CHAPTER UP!**

**Shadow: (I'm still getting you! That's what I was told to do!)**

**Me: IF I DIDN'T GET THE CHAPTER UP!**

**Blaze: (I'm getting you even if he doesn't!)**

**LF: Don't worry Gemma, we're coming! **

**Me: GOOD! YOU BETTER NOT TAKE AS LONG AS LAST TIME! *running* ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

**Episode 50- Saving the few you can******

**"And this chapter I believe our authoress might finally be able to go back into her own author rooms! At long last the heroes will have a little more peace! Anyway, last chapter an unusual thing happened, all our heroes (minus three) turned into Eeveelutions! Now, though, it's all back to normal."**

"I'm not sure if I'll leave just yet." Gem said as she and the others checked themselves over to make sure they didn't have tails or something. "There's too much to sort out down here."

"You've been down here for ages. Don't you at least think you better check on stuff up there?" Lucy said.

"I guess so… alright then, see you guys, I'll probably pay a lot more visits down here now. Time for the voice in the sky to return." Gem said, reaching into her pocket and grabbing the watch, pressing a few buttons, "Ah, now how does this work…"

"You're kidding, right?" Scarlet said, giving her a look. Gem raised her hands in the air for a second.

"I can't help it! I'm used to my simple but shit device! Nathen's stuff is much more advanced than mine!" The authoress said, before sighing, "I'll work on it, but right now I think I'm stuck here still."

"Great, you better not be doing this on purpose." Auberon said, giving her shifty eyes. Gem rolled her eyes.

"I want to get out of here as much as you want me to. Now come on, let's all get to sleep. We have to get moving again in the morning."

Then a yawning Nurse Joy walked out of the back room, and looked at the group, confused for a moment before looking directly at Scarlet.

"Scarlet Stone-Ketchum, correct?" She asked. Scarlet nodded.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Your Aunt, Emerald, she's on the phone for you. Please go to one of the public v-phones and I'll connect you." Joy said, before walking back out back.

"I wonder what Aunt Emerald wants…" Scarlet said, before looking to the others, "You guys go to bed, I'll be up soon."

"Alright, just come up soon." Auberon said, patting her shoulder as he walked past. He was still worried about her, the whole Eevee incident may have lifted their spirits a bit but she had still lost her uncle.

"I will, go to bed." Scarlet said, walking over to a video phone and turning it on.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Hi Auntie Emerald!" Scarlet said with a big grin as she saw her favourite auntie. Emerald beamed back, eyes hidden behind her goggles.

"Hi Niece! How've you been?" Emerald said.

"As good as I can be thanks. You?" Scarlet replied. Emerald shrugged.

"I've been alright, cautious as hell, but fine. You have no idea how many people who just like the colours black and purple I've nearly beat up recently." Scarlet couldn't help but giggle at her aunt's antics. She was always the boisterous one.

"That sounds like you… and like Auberon. He'd be that paranoid in our situation. Then again, he's always that paranoid." The coordinator said, laughing.

"How is your little elfy crush anyway?" Emerald said, raising an eyebrow in typical Ketchum style. Scarlet's cheeks flared up.

"N-Never mind that, t-tell me w-why you called." She said, embarrassed, not wanting to linger on te subject. She had to admit her feelings had been stirred a lot more recently, she swore a lot of these occasions and incidents were things caused by Gem.

"Well, I went to your house to look for clues-…" She saw the look her niece gave her, and raised her hands, "I know it could've been a big mistake, but nothing happened, honest! It was empty of life! Except for a few Poké Balls…" Emerald added the last bit, as she grabbed one. It had a note attached to it, "This one included."

"What does that note say?" Scarlet asked, curious now. Emerald held it up to the screen.

_Whoever finds this, give it to Scarlet; it was supposed to be a gift to her on her journey… but I get the feeling I won't get chance to give it to her personally, and I trust my gut. – Ash Ketchum_

"G-Grandpa, left that… for me…?" The girl said, looking at the note and Poké Ball with wide eyes.

"Yes, he did. He always seemed to be able to tell when something bad was going to happen, so he did things like this, just incise it was serious." Emerald said, "And of course… this time he had good reason to. TUA are obviously not a force to mess with."

"You got that right…" Scarlet said.

"I'm going to send you the Poké Ball. You'll like what's in it." Emerald said, smiling. Scarlet raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"The breed she is, it's somewhat… a family heirloom." Emerald laughed, placing the Poké Ball in the transporter by her side, and pressing the button to send it to Scarlet. It appeared a minute later in the transporter on the ten-year-old's end, and she grabbed it.

"Wait… so this is…!" Scarlet said as she opened it, Emerald grinning.

"Pi!"

~X~X~X~

"How far do we have to travel today?" Auberon asked as the group all grabbed their bags and slung them over their shoulders. Scarlet had a new full Poké Ball on her belt now, though no one seemed to have noticed it.

"The half way Centre. That should be far enough for today." Gem said, looking at the watch again, still trying to figure it out. Or was she really just pretending? Who knows.

"That's quite a way…" Lucy said. Gem shrugged.

"We need to get to Veilstone asap, I want to get this movie underway. Even if I haven't finished it yet. Or am anywhere near doing so…" The authoress said, before sweatdropping at herself, "Ah well, I can update this at the same time as the movie when I get to that."

"Anyway… we better get moving right now if we want to get there on time. No more getting lost." Indigo said, referring to the day of the separation in the forest.

"That was not getting lost, that was TR blasting us into the forest." Auberon pointed out in a smartass voice. Scarlet gave him a smack around the head. Auberon just laughed at her, got her in a playful headlock and then stole her hat before running off.

"Hey! Aube!" She exclaimed before running after him. The others sweatdropped.

"We should so be used to that by now." Hotaru said, "And we haven't known them as long as the rest of you."

"Come on, let's follow them before its them who get us lost." Jaspa sighed, starting to walk ahead with Indigo right on his heels. Nevee dragged off TJ, the boy happily following her, playing along with her dragging him. Gem started to walk off too, Lucy and Hotaru following her closely.

"No more questions today, girls, please." Gem said, as if knowing what they were thinking, "I was on the brink of depression when it all happened, right on the brink of becoming a fully fledged 'emo' by cutting, I don't want to bring myself to that again… or get angry."

"Alright… we're just worried now, is all… that and… Existence has its own branch in TUA… if they find out who you are… then…" Lucy said.

"I won't let them." Gem said simply, "I will not allow myself to be discovered. Existence ever got a read on my aura, the only one who will recognise my face is Brett who never leaves Monoko, and I will not even look like myself when I go into TUA's base anyway."

"If you're sure…" Hotaru said.

"I am. Now come, we need to get going after them." Gem assured, walking a bit faster. The two ex-TUA members gave each other a look before sighing and following.

~X~X~X~

"Gotcha!" Scarlet laughed as she jumped on Auberon from behind and tackled him to the ground. Auberon let out a grunt from her weight, but otherwise just laughed. She grabbed her hat from his hands and put it back on, before sitting on his back and not budging.

"Hey! Get off!" Auberon said, trying to get her off his back. Scarlet just giggled.

Then something knocked Scarlet off Auberon's back, a green and white blur hitting the unsuspecting girl and throwing her to the ground, the blur itself stopping after hitting her, stumbling back, dizzy from the sudden collision, right into Auberon's arms as he pushed himself up.

He looked at the creature for a moment. It was a little Ralts, covered in injuries, its face staring right up at him despite the lack of visible eyes. He stared at it too, confused, holding it.

"What the…?-!" Indigo exclaimed as she and Jaspa reached them. Another blur, this one brown and cream, jumped out of the bushes and this time landed in Indigo's arms. She jumped, but looked at it, seeing a tiny Eevee, also covered in wounds. The Eevee looked up at Indigo, blue eyes scared, but seeming to somewhat trust the girl she was being held by, "Um… hey little one."

"Ve…" The Eevee said, burying her little face against Indigo's chest, as if hiding from something. Ralts had by now grabbed Auberon around the neck and hidden there, making the elfy boy confused. Scarlet was looking at them in shock, whilst Jaspa was looking at Indigo and the Eevee with a similar expression.

"Hey, why've you all stopped here?" Gem said as she walked up to them, Nevee and TJ just ahead of her, before spotting the two Pokémon. "Huh?" Lucy and Hotaru came up behind them too then.

"Cuties!" Nevee giggled immediately, grabbing TJ's hand. TJ couldn't help but blush.

"But what're they doing here? Ralts aren't native to this area, are they? And Eevee don't generally just run around, they're normally in a family." Hotaru said. Gem seemed to have a thought, but she didn't say it if she did.

"They're pretty badly hurt." Jaspa observed, tenderly scooping the scared Eevee from Indigo's arms, looking the wounds over. Indigo hovered close though, knowing how Jaspa could be with Pokémon, but Jaspa gave her an assuring glance he wouldn't hurt it more.

"Oh good! You stopped them!" A male voice said. A minute later someone walked out of the trees, he had black hair in a short ponytail, with two silver streaks, and red eyes. He was dressed in black, with a chain holding a silver skull around his neck.

"And you are?" Auberon said, standing up, still holding the scared Ralts.

"Their trainer," The man said as he gestured to the two Pokémon, "We were training when some wild Pokémon attacked, they fought for a while but being so young they got scared and ran off." Hotaru swore she could see Gem's fist twitch to clench when hearing this, but she dismissed it.

"Oh, I see." Indigo said, though not sure whether to really trust this man or not. He looked in his twenties, and didn't seem the type to train such Pokémon. At his age, surely if he wanted them for their evolved forms they'd be evolved by now, right?

"May I?" He said, gesturing to Indigo and Jaspa to hand the Eevee back. The Eevee tried to hide more into Indigo and Jaspa, but the man scooped her up and told her to climb to his shoulder, which she obediently did, looking down as she did so. He then turned to Auberon, who reluctantly handed over the Ralts, also not getting a good vibe off of the man. "Thank you, who knows where they could've got to if you hadn't've stopped them. Sorry to be a bother." The man said with a polite bow, before running off into the trees.

"…That was strange, even by this story's standards." Hotaru said.

"That would be strange no matter the weirdness of the story." Lucy said.

"I don't see how that was strange, sure he didn't look like the guy to train them, but appearances are deceiving. Look at me, do I look like someone who could put up with someone crazy, if you didn't know me, thus not knowing I can be just as crazy when I want to be?" TJ said, gesturing to himself with the hand holding Nevee's.

"When you've been under the eye of Gem for a while, you can tell when appearances matter." Auberon said, standing up.

"That and your powers of observation, Aube. They apply to humans as well as Pokémon strategies sometimes." Scarlet pointed out as she stood up. Auberon shrugged.

"I still don't like this. What do you think Big Mouth?" The elf boy asked the authoress. Gem was silent for a moment, before shrugging dismissively.

"It's not any of our business." She said simply before turning to walk ahead on the path again.

But someone grabbed her arm, making her sigh and look over her shoulder.

"What?"

"What's with you? Normally every time something like this happened you'd be straight on it!" Scarlet said. Gem sighed.

"Fine, you can get involved if you like, but this isn't my territory today, sorry."

"Not good enough." Scarlet persisted, crossing her arms. Gem barely stopped herself snapping, but at the same time a tiny smile cracked on her face at how persistent she was even though she supposedly hated her authoress.

"Fine, I'll come too…" Gem said, expanding the smile a little. "But I swear, the first sign of big trouble, and we're out of there."

"Hey, Authoress?" Indigo said.

"Yes?"

"If he's a bad guy… and he's hurting those Pokémon… are we allowed to keep them?" She asked, grabbing Jaspa's hand. Gem saw this and the blush that came from both of them and her smile grew.

"Of course. I saw both those Pokémon took a certain shine to two of you' she looked at Indigo then Auberon after saying this 'so you both have permission to catch them if needs be."

"Thanks Authoress." Auberon said.

"Come on, let's just go." Gem said as she started to walk away.

Nevee giggled and started to follow, pulling TJ with her, making him laugh too. Auberon and Scarlet smiled at each other before following, and Indigo and Jaspa didn't let the other's hand go as they followed too.

_All the couples are slowly working out… at least they can be happy…_ Gem thought, still keeping her smile. Lucy and Hotaru exchanged suspicious looks before following too.

~X~X~X~

"You stupid little pests!" The man said as he kicked the Ralts into a tree and threw the Eevee hard against the floor. Both cried out. "All you have to do is damn well train! We could easily just use one of your stupid little siblings you know! The only reason you're alive is for your final evolutions!"

The Eevee pushed to her feet and tried to walk to him, but he kicked her and threw her into a rock. She yelped again, whimpering.

_Please…_ Ralts's telepathic voice said to the man, as she too tried to stand. The man just threw her back with a beam of flames that came from one of his hands.

"Well well, I see there is plenty more than one evil team operating here in Sinnoh." An all too familiar female voice said. The man looked to her.

Ciaera walked out from the trees, not looking a day older than when Scarlet's mother had met her, though she was now almost twenty years older. Her hair was still long and black, her fringe still dark red. She was still dressed in red and black, and her lips were blood red.

"And you are?" The man asked.

"The name is Ciaera. Team Rocket's leader. And you would be?" Ciaera said. The man crossed his arms.

"I'm Colby, currently the lone Existence Soldier out here in Sinnoh. So, you're from the famous Team Rocket are you? We've heard a lot about you, don't see you much in Pokoh or Monoko. Just the odd appearance." The man, Colby, said. Both small Pokémon were whimpering and trying to get to their feet again.

"We haven't quite gotten around to it, yet. We've tried before but some idiots destroyed our attempts. The same can't be said for you, I haven't heard much of such a team called Existence before, I would be intrigued to learn of your methods. We both strive for world domination, yes?"

"Perhaps. I don't believe I am at such a position to tell you what I know though, miss. You are, technically, the enemy. We work alone." Colby said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not from what little I've heard. Team Universal Aura, ring any bells?" Ciaera said with a smirk, seeing the look on his face, "I have eyes and ears everywhere my boy."

"We still work alone, that is merely a cooperation of convenience for the two of us, we need what they have and they are interested in what we have. Plus, fighting over the same territory would not be good for either side."

"I suppose so, my boy… but we at Team Rocket have our ways." Ciaera smirked, clicking her fingers, making three Houndoom run into view. Colby tensed.

"Fight me with my own kind? What an insult, miss Ciaera." He said, before his legs tensed, "But you should know one thing, I was not only merged with Houndoom." He added, before jumping high and then slamming his feet to the ground, causing a powerful earthquake attack to take over the floor of the path and forest.

"Smart, I'll give you that. But this won't be the last you see of m-…"

A tiny cry rang out, as the Ralts decided this was enough and wanted to alert her saviour from earlier to what was going on. After she did so, both she and the Eevee soon found themselves unconscious from the damage caused by the earthquake attack on top of their other injuries.

And right on time, the group burst through the trees, all barely standing from the quaking ground.

"What the hell?-! I knew something was up!" Auberon exclaimed. Gem looked scared, the earthquake couldn't've come from any of the Pokémon present, and she knew this only confirmed her earlier fears, she began to shake and it wasn't from the earthquake.

"I'm getting away whilst I still can…" Ciaera mumbled to herself, before turning to run. Scarlet caught the woman's face for just a second as she ran off, and something in her head clicked, but she couldn't quite put her finger on where this woman's face brought up a memory.

"I should've known I couldn't get out of prying little trainer's eyes for too long, stupid little weaklings." Colby said as he looked to the group, charging a flame on his hand. Their eyes all widened.

"Oh shit." Someone said, but none of them registered who it was before they dodged the best they could, Jaspa seeming to take extra care and even making sure that Nevee was out of the way before even TJ could.

"What on earth?-!" Indigo exclaimed as she sat up.

"Go to those Pokémon!" Gem barked suddenly as she brought herself to her feet. Everyone looked at her in surprise, other than Lucy and Hotaru who had quickly understood the situation. "I'm staying to battle this guy, you guys go to a safe place and treat them!"

"What?-! No, we have to stay here and help!" Scarlet protested. Gem gave her a hard glare, which shut her up.

"I said GO! Those Pokémon need attention, and don't worry about the damn Poké Balls, I can assure you I will get them for you and modify them to fit your others!"

"But…" Auberon started.

"NO BUTS!" Gem barked louder than before, making them jump. They all quickly got up and grabbed onto the two Pokémon, Auberon taking Ralts and Indigo taking Eevee, before they ran off. Scarlet looked at Gem before following, but seeing the look she got she tore off after the others.

"Well well, you're a brave one aren't you?" Colby said as he grabbed a Poké Ball. Gem grabbed one of her own.

"I know your kind," Gem said simply, expanding her ball.

"Ah… one of us."

"I was NEVER one of you!" Gem snarled, throwing her ball, revealing Blaziken. Normally, a lot of Existence experiments would only use their 'own' species as their main Pokémon, but she didn't have an Embolf, she couldn't bare it, but she could just about pull of pretending Blaziken was her main Pokémon, he had the wrists at the very least. She flared up her own flames just as Blaziken did, her ankles staying unlit, and snarled at Colby louder.

Colby sent out a Houndoom of his own, and smirked.

"You're not going to have an easy go of it." He said, looking at the other fire type.

"Do you forget he is also part _fighting?_" Gem said, a small smirk forming at the man's stupidity. "Blaziken, Double Kick, pronto!"

"Stay boy." Colby said calmly.

The Blaziken leapt into the air, both legs powered and ready to kick out with as much force as he could manage, heading quickly for the Dark Type, who was just sitting there. The legs bent, and just as he was about to deliver the powerful set of two kicks, some hidden signal was given and the Houndoom bit down on the first leg that came for him, electricity sparking from its fangs, making Blaziken let out a startled yelp as the electricity shot through him. But he still had his other leg.

The Houndoom yelped as he was thrown off and back, Blaziken landing on the floor, now limping a bit on the shocked leg. Gem flared up her flames more, growling.

"Use Bulk Up then use Sky Upper Cut!"

"Shadow Ball."

Blaziken ran at the other Pokémon with startling speed as his muscles tensed, powering him more. The other was charging a dark ball in his mouth, paws dug to the dirt to keep him still and tense, ready to attack. Blaziken brought his fists up just as the ball was fired, and as the super effective attacked knocked the Dark Type into the air Blaziken was blown back into the trees.

"Blaziken!"

"Up and use Flamethrower into those trees!" Colby said, without a second's thought. Gem gritted her teeth, she was too scared to stop it, too scared it would remind her of that fire she caused that didn't burn like is should've, didn't burn _her_ like it should've. Blaziken was struggling up, and the Houndoom was clearly not doing so good either, the battle had been short but sharp so far, and the two were so experienced that even against someone of a similar skill their moves could end a battle easily.

But despite the two's conditions, Houndoom fired his attack, and Blaziken tried to stand to get out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough this time, he was slammed into the tree, even with little damage being done, and the flames burnt the trees behind him, starting up a fire. Blaziken recovered quickly, and stood. But by the time the two had looked back to the man after seeing the fire, he was gone and two Poké Balls were left behind.

Gem walked to them, grabbing them and holding them, looking at the red and white balls with wide eyes for a moment, knowing what they were, that wasn't why her eyes were wide. She was scared. She was genuinely scared. She felt her thirty year old mind fade to her younger one as the fear took over just like it would back then, and she dropped the balls, curling up into a ball and starting to sob.

"T-They're h-here… in-in S-Sinnoh… th-they're here…" She cried, the flames on her ankles joining her wrists, but her clothing not catching alight. She felt the flames from the fire wash over her, and she didn't care, she would wait for another saviour to fix it, she just wanted to dwell in her sorrows. Blaziken looked on from a short distance, knowing it was not his place to pry. But when he saw a surf coming he quickly jumped over it.

Gem felt the familiar burn of the water, and looked up, eyes still flowing with tears. In front of her she saw a familiar person and her Furret, and her eyes lit up a little.

"Hey there. Boy, do I have to do this every time yo-…" The other woman was cut off by the Authoress jumping at her and hugging her, sobbing hard and not letting go. She smiled weakly at this, and hugged her too, patting and rubbing her back to calm her, "Hey… come on… it's all going to be fine.."

~X~X~X~

**Me: *pre-recorded* …I loved that chapter! Not only was it a way to get Auberon and Indigo their next Pokémon, and Scarlet too, but I got to use Existence too! Plus, the mystery person returns, but only for this chapter, she won't be coming in next chapter, she has to stay secret for a long time yet! **

**Me: *live*HOLY CRAP MAN THIS IS MAD! HELLLLP!**

**LF: We're doing our best Gemma!**

**Me; NOT GOOD ENOUGH!**

**Kim: *white hair with pink ends, and dressed in mostly black and white, with some dark blue* Don't worry, here's more help! Hey, so you're this Gem?**

**Me: I'M ONE OF HER, YES! NOW COME ON, HELP! NATHEN SENT YOU HERE FOR A REASON AND I SWEAR I MIGHT KILL SOMEONE IF I'M NOT OUT OF THIS SITUATION SOON!**

**Kim: Geez, I'm helping! *running***

**Me: YOU BETTER BE! R&R READERS!**


	52. Ep 51: Meeting with a Meteor

**Me: WAAAH! STOP THEM!**

**Shadow: (I've nearly got you now!)**

**Me: I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU GETTING ME ANYMORE! JUST DON'T LET BLAZE GET NEAR ME OR I'M GONNA DIIIIIE!**

**Shadow: (So if I catch you, you don't mind?)**

**Me: I'M SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING YOU BACK FOR NATHEN ANYWAY!**

**Blaze: (I'm still getting you too!)**

**LF: Not if we can help it, Blaze!**

**Kim: Is it always this crazy around here?**

**All: YES!**

**Episode 51 (OMG last chapter was the half century!)- Meeting with a Meteor **

**"Last chapter: A strange man was abusing two young Pokémon, but our heroes saved them and two claimed the Pokémon as their own, due to them taking quite a liking to them. But now what does this all mean for the group?"**

"What's taking Gem so long?" Indigo asked as she sat by the little Eevee, Jaspa treating its wounds after finishing with Ralts, who was now getting a light aura heal to help her heal quicker. Auberon was holding her as Lucy treated her, the Ralts nuzzling against the elfy boy.

"Who knows. It might just be a tough battle." Lucy shrugged, giving Hotaru a look subtly. Scarlet shook her head, looking up from peering over Auberon's shoulder at Ralts.

"No, Authoress stronger than such an idiot." She said. Hotaru raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

"I thought you hated her?" Hotaru asked casually. Scarlet coughed, going a bit red.

"Well, I do! But she's still stronger than a coward who abuses baby Pokémon!" She said, crossing her arms and looking to the side, pouting. The Ralts in Auberon's arms giggled a bit.

"Hey little one, do you have a name?" Auberon asked the giggling Pokémon. She shook her head.

_No… he never named us. We never needed names… we were just ingredients to him. _She said in her telepathic voice again. Auberon was confused by the last bit, but didn't say anything about it.

"How about I give you a name?" He suggested.

"Oo! And I'll name you too little Eevee!" Indigo said, gently patting its paw. She smiled at the human.

_Yes Please! Eevee wants one too!_ Ralts said eagerly.

"I think I'll name you Guardian then." Auberon said before tickling the Ralts's stomach. Ralts giggled and squirmed. Scarlet giggled at Auberon too, thinking:

_He sure would make a great dad someday…_ She then realised what she had thought and her cheeks flared up, and she looked to her feet before anyone could ask her what was up.

"And… what about Vapor, Eevee?" Indigo said, touching the bottom of one of the Eevee's paws. Eevee smiled up at her to accept the name. Indigo giggled.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"Sorry I took so long guys…" Gem said as she walked up to them. She'd changed outfit again, but the group could see little other than the white jeans and black boots that showed beneath the long black coat. Her hair seemed to have grown even longer than normal, but no one commented. She was only in this, really, because her other clothes were wet, and the water would burn even more than the questions the other would ask… she had to thank her mysterious friend again at a later date. "Battle took longer than I expected…"

"Did you beat him?" Scarlet asked. Gem threw the now customised Poké Balls to each of the new owners, giving them their answer, "Good job!' she then coughed, and added 'For once…"

Gem smiled a small smile, Scarlet back to her normal authoress hating self, before she walked past them by a few paces.

"Come on, we need to move more. We should be getting fairly close to the centre by now." She said, hands in her new coat's pockets now, "And those Pokémon will need more medical attention from Nurse Joy, not that I don't trust Jaspa and the aura users, but they need an opinion off her too."

"Alright, alright." Auberon said, standing up, cradling Guardian still. Scarlet stood with him, and all the others soon joined them.

"Want a Grumpiggy back, Nevee?" TJ asked. Gemma smiled again, TJ and Nevee were getting along well, and Nevee had exactly the right kind of person for her. Nevee giggled happily and jumped on his back, TJ making funny snorting noises as he pretended to be a Grumpig. Nevee laughed more.

"We all ready to go?" Hotaru asked, stretching a bit.

"Yup/Yeah/Yes." Was chorused around the group, and soon they all started walking.

"How bad did you kick that guy's ass, Authoress?" Scarlet asked as they walked down the path toward the Pokémon Centre. Gem sighed.

"Do you really need to know guys? I kicked his ass to kingdom come, that's all you need to know." Gem lied, knowing full well she would've lost easily if she hadn't've practically surrendered to the flames that had covered the clearing in the forest.

"Oh come on, tell us!" Auberon said, "I'm sure Guardian and Vapor would love the satisfaction of hearing how bad ya kicked his butt."

Gem let a smile form again, and she laughed. Everyone gave her a weird look, but she just calmed the laugh and looked at them, not even tripping as she continued to walk without looking where she was going.

"Fine, I'll tell you. I used Blaziken, and he used a Houndoom-…" She started before someone spoke up.

"Doesn't that mean you couldn't use his fire moves?" Indigo said. Gem nodded.

"Of course. But remember, Houndoom is part-…" She continued, before again she was interrupted.

"Dark Type." Jaspa finished for her. Gem shot him a playful glare.

"Dark Type… yes, Jaspa, that was what I was going to say. And Blaziken is part _f_-…"

"Fighting type!" Auberon piped in. Gem laughed, covering her mouth.

"You guys… god now I know why I still do this. You guys are just crazy, but you're just yourselves…' she let out another laugh 'Anyway… yes, he's part fighting, so I used fighting type moves and beat him that way. Got the forest set on fire in the process, but hey, happens to us all." She had to admit, she hated lying to them but that little bit of truth at the end helped a lot.

"True." Lucy said.

"Now, after the Pokémon Centre, I will go up into the sky and check on things in my Authoress room a bit, but I will be coming back down, this is just as much fun as torturing you from the sky."

"Are we going to spend the night at the centre again?" TJ asked.

"Probably. It all depends." Gem said, "We might end up bumping into some people."

"Which people are you setting us up to bump into next?" Auberon asked.

"Either a trio or a duo." Lucy said for her, using aura to tell, "She doesn't know which yet."

"Helpful." Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes.

"I try my best." Gem giggled, thinking: _I guess I can rely on more than just my mysterious friend to help me cheer up… these guys are all the laughter medicine I need…_

"I can see the centre!"

"Took less time than expected."

"Blame the dodgy timeline."

They all entered the centre, and Joy greeted them with her usual smile.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asked.

"Yes please, we have two injured Pokémon here; we need them to be checked over." Gem said, gesturing to the Pokémon. Auberon and Indigo gently put the Pokémon on the desk.

"I see… Lulu, Liam! Come here!"

"Lulu and Liam? Wait…" Scarlet started, before two people walked out. The female was about twenty four years old, and the male about twenty two, the girl had long black hair with a red streak and equally red eyes, in a doctor's coat, and the male had the same colour hair, down to his neck, but the same eyes you'd expect on… Brock's Family!

"Well well, look who it is." The two said at the same time.

"Hi Uncle Liam, Aunty Lulu!" Scarlet greeted. The others all waved too, "What're you doing here?"

"We work here, didn't you know? Plus Liam here succeeded where dad didn't and tied the knot with Karen Joy here." Lulu laughed, before scooping up the Ralts, "We kinda expected you'd be coming here."

"Hi you two, geez, I still remember Lulu being six!" Gem said with a laugh, "All the way back in RJC… I don't even think Liam or the other kids made an appearance, did you?"

"Nope. Most of them kinda resent you for that, even if they were mostly babies at the time." Liam said, taking the Eevee.

"Doesn't surprise me really." Gem shrugged, "Well, no time to catch up, right? You guys sort them out."

"Of course. Nice seeing you again, we'll speak when we can." Lulu said, before walking out back along with Liam.

"Would you like me to check up on your other Pokémon?" Joy asked.

"That shouldn't be necessary." Gem said, "Thanks anyway though, and very late congrats on being with Liam, I won't ask your age but you must be around the same ages, right?"

"Of course, what I find strange is his father likely flirted with my mother." Joy laughed, "Well, have a nice evening." She smiled before walking out back too.

"That was random, but I'm guessing they weren't the people we might bump into?" Indigo asked. Gem nodded.

"No duh. Well, we can get a room later if needs be, right now let's just get some food."

"Alright!" Auberon and Scarlet cheered at the same time before racing off to the canteen. Everyone sweatdropped, whilst Gem just laughed.

"Same old, same old, 'ey? Come on, let's go." She said, following them.

"She's sure cheered up fast." TJ said.

"She's like that. I think being around a group like this so much has advantages like that." Hotaru said, "I just wonder who's coming now."

"Look for any friendly auras, that could easily be them." Jaspa said with a shrug before walking off, Indigo not far behind him. TJ – still carrying Nevee – ran after them, Nevee being Nevee and sticking her arms out like an aeroplane. TJ laughed at her now.

"Geez, he can be so sharp and annoying." Hotaru said, crossing her arms.

"That's what Jaspa is like, and we know why, so cut him some slack." Lucy said, starting to walk. Hotaru just nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets as she always did.

"I know, I know."

~X~X~X~

"Yum!"

"You guys really are acting like your Pokémon."

"Uh?"

"Don't ask."

The group was sat around a table in the canteen, laughing a bit and eating… though most of the latter was being done by the ever hungry pair made of Auberon and Scarlet, whilst the former was at the expense of the hungry duo.

"I don't see any signs of anyone we know yet, Big Mouth."

"Really? Back to that name?" Gem said, giving Scarlet (she spoke) a look. The girl shrugged, making Gem roll her eyes.

"Are these people even going to arrive?" Jaspa asked.

"Have I ever said they would then they didn't?"

"She has a point." Indigo pointed out after swallowing a bite of her simple plate of food. Jaspa let out a quiet chuckle.

"They'll arrive sooner or later, don't worry." Gem said, chuckling to herself.

"Good! No offence to the three temporaries' she got a couple of glares off Hotaru and Lucy though TJ didn't seem to be listening anyway (too absorbed with Nevee), 'but getting some new people around for a bit would be a nice change."

"TJ's only been here a few chapters…" Gem said, chuckling again.

"So?"

"You guys are crazy… just eat your food and shut ya mouths." Authoress laughed back again, putting her fork in her mouth straight after,_ Maybe I can manage to keep myself occupied enough with these guys to keep my cheerful… unless… what leads the three here doesn't go how I hope…_

Just then, the power went out.

~X~X~X~

**_Only a few moments before…_**

"What on earth was that?-!" A familiar female voice said, shielding her face from the bright light of the flames. A male coughed and stood up, shielding his eyes.

"Never mind that! Where's Crystal?-!" He yelled. The girl panicked now.

"I-I don't know! She w-was here a second ago!"

"Oh god… Help me find her!" The boy said anxiously, before both heard a small voice.

_'Help! N-Nathen! K-Kate! O-Over here!'_

"That's her!" Kate said, running over toward the voice, Nathen speeding after her. They reached the site of the voice and saw Crystal was lying on the ground with her forehead bleeding, her arm bleeding and beneath a chunk of rock that had come from whatever landed in the ground with such force only a few moments ago, and looking in great pain. "Crystal!"

"Oh Princess, now you really are a right damsel in distress! Kate, help me move the boulder!"

"But what about Aura?"

"Can't, there's a small TUA gathering not too far from this meteorite, I can't risk them picking up on me, that would lead them to us all. We have to move it manually." Nathen sighed, wiping sweat off his brow from the fire's heat. Kathryn gulped a bit, but nodded, and together the two strained to lift the heavy rock, as soon as it was up just enough Crystal painfully moving her arm out of the way so the two could just about drop the weight before their own arms broke or dislocated.

Nathen was by his sister's side in an instant, touching her arm and hearing her whimper. He wished he could heal her straight away, but he couldn't risk it, especially when he felt the other familiar auras that would also be risked in the nearby Pokémon c-… That's it!

"There's a Pokémon Centre nearby, we can go there! Scarlet and co are there too, so it's a good idea anyway!" He said, scooping Crystal up as carefully but as quickly as he could. She whimpered.

"G-Good! Come on, let's go! Quick!" Kathryn said.

They ran fast, leaving a burning meteor behind them, burning up the forest. But once their backs were turned, something glowed in the centre of it, and three things came out, one was hopping curiously, the others floating.

"Clef!"

"Constell!"

"Luna…"

~X~X~X~

**_Pokémon Centre…_**

"Why has the power gone out?-!" Scarlet exclaimed, now forgetting her food and standing up. Typical of her, the only thing that could stop her eating was an unusual problem.

"No idea… but I'm sensing a _huge_ aura signature nearby, not a human one, an object coated in strange aura from somewhere… and three smaller auras right by it… not sure what they are yet." Hotaru said, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them.

"Could that have anything to do with the power outage?" TJ asked. Nevee was now cowering by his side, gripping his arm tightly and whimpering. She still hated the dark.

"It could do." Hotaru said.

"I think it might… its forcing my reading away from it, Hotaru." Lucy said, wincing as she too tried to read the aura signature, but couldn't, "My Aura is too weak, I may have been in TUA but I wasn't exactly the strongest of grunts… I was there for years and I never got past Grunt."

"Can you see any of us?" Jaspa asked, being the ever factual boy he is and wanting to have all the answers.

"…Not very clearly… it feels like the object is… blocking my reading… ugh… this hurts…" Lucy said, stumbling a little before she stopped and opened her eyes, rubbing her head, making her purple hair even messier than normal.

"Whatever this thing is, it can't be of this planet if it can turn off all the centre's electricity _and_ mess with someone's _aura_!" Scarlet said, before turning to look at Gem, "Did _you_ have anything to do with this?"

"How could I? As I said, I can't control much at all from down here. And no, I didn't take so long earlier because I figured the Watch out and went back up, okay? I told you I'll go up later, after this place, not then. I had _nothing_ to do with this." _If they're as gullible as they always are they should fall for that one…_

"…Fine, but if w-…!" Auberon started, before another voice seemed to finish his sentence for him:

"If we find out this is your bloody fault Authoress I swear to _holy Arceus above_ that you are so going to die!" A male voice called, and a minute later the group could see a trio in the centre of the lobby.

Now in the light, you could see that – like the main group had – the three had all had costume changes, and in Nathen's change a physical alteration. Both of his eyes were now red.

He now wore a black long sleeved shirt, a Dark Blue pair of pants, a black pair of boots with silver trim and laces, a black jacket with silver shields on the shoulders connected to the silver shields around the cuffs by a silver chain design, a black leather clip belt, a black and blue Pokétch, and a crystal shard earring on his right ear.

A panicked Kathryn was in a dark red skirt that reaches just above her knees, black leggings that cover down to just above her ankles, black and pink running shoes, white long sleeved top, black jacket with a red rose symbol on the right side, a black chocker with gold and silver lace which made an exquisite design, a black lace used to tie her hair back with a rose in the centre of the fabric, a black leather clip belt, and a white Pokétch, whilst her red hair was back in a ponytail.

And finally, the injured Crystal a now bloodstained white and light blue pair of running shoes, a dark blue pair of pants, a light gray long sleeved top with a white rose design in the centre, a black jacket with a white flower lotus design along the lower rim, a red leather clip belt, a special crystal snowflake earring, and a pink Pokétch.

"Nathen?-! Kate?-! …Holy crap, Crystal?-!" Scarlet exclaimed, running out of the canteen's glass doors, which unlike many doors in the Centre, did not lock with electricity.

"What happened to you guys?-!" Auberon joined in, running out too. Soon everyone had followed, looking at the blood covered girl. Her forehead still flowed some crimson liquid, and her arm was rested on her own stomach, and she was very obviously in pain.

"We're not really sure… something suddenly just hit the ground from the sky, we're lucky we got out with only Crystal's injuries being even this severe! There's flames and everything, don't know who'll put them out." Kathryn said, voice panicked.

"Oh, someone will." Gem chuckled, thinking that maybe her mysterious friend might think she had done it again, and even if she didn't she was the type to stop the fire anyway.

"Do you know anything about this?-!" Nathen barked, scared for his sister, worried.

"No, I didn't!" Gem said. She knew it would be harder to fool him, but she honestly had no idea that the meteor crash would hurt Crystal. Nathen gave her a look, but let it drop sensing there was also a lot of tension in her emotions, a lot of confusion and hurt, so he couldn't really find the truth about her answer to his bark.

"We have to get her to Nurse Joy!" Kathryn said.

"Can't Hotaru or Lucy heal her?" Jaspa said, an eyebrow raised. Hotaru looked at Nathen's aura, and realising he was one of the elusive aura bearing friends they'd heard about from Miles, she knew Nathen would've healed her if he could've, and he could easily by the look of his aura, so something was holding him back. She closed her eyes for only a blink, and she could see the mass amount of auras nearby… a small base, but big enough to be a problem if they sensed aura usage.

"No, we can't. I just checked the area… there's a big gathering of strong auras, it's a TUA base, too much aura release would attract their attention. We don't want that with Scarlet here, or me and Lu' for that matter." Hotaru said, "Nurse Joy will have to deal with her."

"I'm not sure how much I can do." Joy's voice said. They turned and saw her walking back in from checking the generator, hat gone and her heavy coat covering her uniform. "Without our power, most of our medical systems are down."

"But her injuries don't need that much machinery or stuff to treat, do they?" Nathen said.

"You'd be surprised how much Machinery tells us these days. I am not used to treating humans, so to give her pain relief I have to calculate the amount I need on the computer, to do all sorts I need the computer. Plus, to see how bad that arm is, I need an x-ray."

"Oh great…"

"Electric Pokémon…?" Kathryn suggested.

"I don't even think we have any Electric types on us…" Jaspa said, "Actually, I'm pretty sure we don't."

"…We do." Scarlet said, grabbing one of her Poké Balls, "I got one recently."

"When? You've never had chance to catch one…" Auberon said, confused. He'd normally know she'd gotten anything new at all. Scarlet pressed the button on the Poké Ball, and saying as it opened:

"I didn't catch it."

Her new Pokémon appeared. It was a Pikachu, a female judging by the end of its tail, with a big grin that somewhat mirrored her new trainer's.

"…How did we not see that one coming?" Indigo said, giggling a little. The Pikachu hopped up onto Scarlet's shoulder, wrapping her tail around her other shoulders, and resting a paw on her hat.

"I can use her, she could probably easily set off the backup generator." Scarlet suggested, rubbing the electric mouse behind the ear.

"Alright, I'll lead you there." Joy said, doing her coat back up.

"I'll come!" Auberon said, digging his own light coat out of his bag as Scarlet did the same, "I don't have an electric type, but I wanna come."

"You might be more handy at the meteor site." Gem said.

"Why?"

"Your 'super nature elf' stuff." She reminded, patting his head. Auberon gave her a look before laughing.

"Doing that when you are the same height as me, does not work." Gem groaned at this, facepalming.

"Once again my height of a ten year old betrays me…" She sighed. Auberon laughed, and put his hood up, doing the zip tight so only his face was visible, not even his hair. Scarlet didn't even bother with the hood, but did the red jacket up tight too. Pika (yes, she named her _Pika_), was sat on her head and giggling to herself, tail now around the back of Scarlet's neck.

"Alrighty, so who's going where?" Hotaru asked.

"I say, the three we've always said about keep the generator running. Jaspa, Indigo, Nevee, TJ, and Nathen, you all go to the Meteor. Kathryn, you stay here with Hotaru and Lucy to look after Crystal whilst they get the generator up and going. Everyone got where they're going?" Gem said in her authoress tone. Everyone nodded, "Good, now let's move out!"

"Where are you going?" TJ asked, "You didn't mention yourself."

"I am going to do my checks 'upstairs', I don't need to do too much down here for now, but I'll be back down later. See ya!" Gem said, grabbing the watch from her bag and pressing a few buttons and sliding things, before she disappeared in a small flash and went up to her most technological authoress room.

Alright people, get moving!

Everyone jumped hearing the voice in the sky, TJ because it was the first time he'd ever heard it, and the others because it had been so long because they'd heard it.

"God that might take some getting used to again…" Scarlet muttered, before grabbing Auberon by the wrist and running out of the doors, Joy following closely after them.

Oh, and also you guys who are helping Crystal, get Lulu and Liam to help too, okay? You need medical help too, since Lucy and Hotaru can't do anything.

"I couldn't even without the base, this meteor thing is really killing my control." Lucy said, sighing and rubbing her temples.

"You sure it's the meteor?" Hotaru asked. Lucy nodded, giving a small look to her.

"Yes, I'm sure, I was fine when I came here, before the crash. Now come on, let's help Kathryn and the two Slate's help poor Crystal, besides… we need to get to know the new people, hey?" She said, giving another look to say what she meant, even she could tell these three friends of the group were the aura bearers out of their friends.

"Alright, let's go."

They ran out back, after Nathen handed over Crystal to one of the three. Now come on, Meteor people! Go, go, go!

"God, I am going to hate having you back up there for any length of time…" Jaspa groaned. Indigo giggled a little and latched onto his arm. Oh, and be careful there guys, who knows what those things Hotaru saw coming from it were, and watch out for the flames.

"I have Muddy, Gem." True. Okay, just go! Hurry people! "Maybe you will get more annoying again…" Oh just go!

~X~X~X~

**_Pokémon Centre Backup Generator…_**

"What happens if this doesn't work?" Scarlet said, letting her Pikachu charge up her power before she had to release it onto the generator.

"Why wouldn't it?" Joy asked. Scarlet shrugged her shoulders, her hair falling out of one of its bobbles and her casually fixing it.

"Hotaru and Lucy said that it was interfering with aura, not just electricity supply, for all we know we could be basically shooting Electricity into a void that'll just suck it all away because of the meteor again." She said. Auberon nodded.

"That does make sense. Even I'm feeling a disturbance from this, and I don't get that many feelings. Its faint for me because I'm only linked to nature because of this defect, but it's there." The elf boy explained, though Scarlet couldn't help but wonder if his 'nature senses' weren't as much to do with his elfyness, but more to do with that strange incident back in the woods when they were lost. When he'd seemed to make aura and use it to make a Pokémon move work for them, humans.

"Pika-Ka! Chu-Ka!" Pika then said, looking at the two young trainers.

"You ready? Okay, use Thunderbolt Pika! Right on that Generator!" The coordinator of the pair ordered, pointing her arm in typical Ketchum fashion.

Pika unleashed her electric attack right on target, the generator buzzing into a noisy life as the electricity was pumped through it, powering it again. The gage showing power went up and up. They could see lights flickering on through the windows, the power being restored to the building.

"Yes! It worked! Alright, it's at full, you can stop now Pika." Scarlet said, punching the air above her head. Auberon sweatdropped.

"Honestly, couldn't you have thought of a better name?"

"Shuddup, you're killing my buzz." Scarlet said, giving him shifty eyes.

"Um, this might kill your 'buzz' more, Scarlet. Look." Joy said, pointing to the gage on the generator. As soon as the attack had stopped, it was falling, fast.

"Ah shit…"

SCARLET!

"Double shit."

~X~X~X~

**_Medical Room…_**

"Great, almost had power then it went out, just peachy…" Kathryn said, pacing a bit.

"You're getting pretty anxious." Hotaru pointed out.

"I know, I'm worried about Crystal, that's why. I bet Nathen feels just the same, if not worse. She is his sister after all." Kate said, sighing now as she just reverted to wringing her hands instead of the constant pacing.

"We can only do so much for her now, like try to stop the bleeding." Lulu said as she gently moved the broken or dislocated arm from resting on the pure haired girl's stomach, "The head doesn't seem to be as bad as it appears, luckily."

"Let me double check that, I've seen a lot of head injuries in my time." Hotaru said, gently urging the nurse's hands away and touching the cut forehead, apologising for the pain it caused, she had gloves on to make sure no germs were passed, "Well, you do seem to be right about the injury itself, but…"

"The blood?" Lucy offered. Hotaru nodded.

"The blood is coming pretty darn quick, I think something from that huge bloody rock is making her bleed faster than normal."

"W-Will I-I be okay?"

"You should be." Liam answered as the girl spoke weakly.

Hotaru whispered in her ear, "_Don't worry_, we can heal you with aura once we're out of range of that darn base nearby. Even if we can't treat you now you'll be okay in less than twenty-four hours." Crystal let out a small sigh of relief.

"If they can get the power on, we should do fine. God I hope they just hurry." Lucy said, "Normally they're faster at this stuff than this!"

"Maybe there's a problem with it taking in the energy, that would explain it being on but going off again seconds later." Hotaru said. The others nodded.

"That meteor was pretty big… do you think Nathen and the others will be okay?" Kate questioned, stopping the wringing now, but biting her lip instead.

"I'm sure they will. Even the figures I saw come out of it were small, I think. It's hard to tell with aura sometimes. No matter the training level." The ex-commander replied, trying to sound reassuring but not really helping.

"Thanks… that helped…" Kathryn said with slight sarcasm.

~X~X~X~

**_Meteor…_**

Whoa… I so did not expect this to be _this_ bad…

The forest fire was even worse than the fire set alight by Gem's battle with that horrid man. And the fire seemed to have a strange radiation around it, probably to do with the meteor. Electricity, probably the energy absorbed from the nearby centre, was sparking around it, making it dangerous to get too close. Not that it would've been particularly safe even without the electricity…

"Bloody hell… I didn't realise how bad this was…" Nathen said, scarlet eyes wide. Indigo automatically gripped Jaspa, who had gone extremely tense at the amount of flames around him and, of course, lil' Nevee, who was clutching TJ as if her life depended on it, which it very well could. Though she didn't really know that consciously.

"How on earth do we stop this? It doesn't really help when two of us can't do much." Jaspa said, gesturing to TJ and the frightened Nevee, even if somewhere he also partially meant himself.

"We need to put the fire out with Muddy for one." Indigo said, patting her starter's Poké Ball.

"Not sure if that'll be safe for her with the electricity." Nathen pointed out. His eyes closed for less than a second, and even in that time he could see the glaring aura signature that was greatly disrupting his vision through aura from such a close distance. "We might have to try and find another way."

"Like what?" Jaspa asked, rolling his yellow eyes. Nathen shrugged. "So, we're still on square one."

"Pretty much."

"Helpful."

"Jaspa, be nice." Indigo said, sounding somewhat patronizing, though Jaspa easily overlooked that.

"Luuunaaa…" Everyone suddenly heard something moan. Nevee clutched TJ tighter, whimpering. Everyone else was looking around frantically.

"Wh-What was that?" Indigo stuttered. Nathen had gotten into a defensive stance in what seemed like almost the blink of an eye, fists clenched.

"I don't know… but it did not sound human to me…" He said in a low tone, looking around.

"Clef! Clef!"

"…A-And that?" Indigo continued.

"That sounds kinda cute…" Nevee said, cheering up a little, looking around herself now. TJ chuckled but sweatdropped, ruffling her hair.

"Constell! Conste Constell Escent!" Another voice said. Everyone continued to look around the meteor crash site, seeing nothing before three shapes floated up from behind part of the huge meteor. Everyone backed up a step, before they could see the shapes being lit up by the flames and electrical energy.

One was a little pink and brown creature, the brown being two triangle shapes that protruded from the top of its head, and it had a blue glow around it signalling it was only floating because of psychic. It was vaguely shaped like a star and had a curl on its forehead.

The next creature was floating without the glow, and it resembles a crescent moon. It has red eyes on either side of its body and has an unusual beak-like structure in front of it, coming from the deepest point of the curve.

And the final creature was one none of the group could recognise, it was about the size of Solrock. A golden yellow five armed star with a four armed one behind it, that's clear, like crystal or glass, but with an orange tint. It has large eyes, and on the end of two of its arms there are glowing orbs. The orbs were constantly changing places around the five front arms.

"What on earth…?" TJ said.

"…I don't think they came from earth, TJ…" Indigo said, eyes a little wide.

"A Cleffa, a… Lunatone… and… a… I don't recognise that last one…" Jaspa said, yellow eyes just as wide. Nathen pulled out his Pokédex, aiming it at the Pokémon none of them recognised.

**_No data._**

"No data… that Pokémon is either brand new or from another region…" He grunted, putting away his Dex in his bag again, closing his eyes for a second again, but this time being completely forced out of the aura reading sight.

"Constelescent! Constell!" The star Pokémon said, large eyes focusing on the humans, seeming confused but also irritated. "_Humans! Darn humans!"_

"…What the hell? Telepathy?" Indigo said, gripping tighter to Jaspa.

"Clef! Cleffa!" The little Cleffa said, giving a stern look to the star.

_"I don't care if they're not the humans that tried to shoot our meteor down! They're human!"_

"…Wait, they were inside the meteor?" TJ said.

"And someone tried to shoot it down…?" Nathen added. Lunatone was next to speak up, using telepathy again.

_"Well, they don't seem bad… one of them seems a little dodgy, but not bad…_" Jaspa visibly cringed, but luckily no one was looking at him.

_"I don't care!"_ The star continues.

_"Constelescent…"_ Lunatone then just sighed. Constelescent glared at the group of humans, and the back star started to spin, as the glowing orbs moved faster and faster around its five 'arms'. It was going to attack.

"Watch out!" Jaspa exclaimed, all of them preparing to dive out of the way, when something unexpected happened. Three mechanical arms shot out and grabbed the three floating Pokémon, making all three let out their own shrill shriek. Everyone just watched with huge eyes as a large vehicle, with the top being somewhat similar to a robot cabin TRm3 would use, but the wheels were much larger than an average TR machine's wheels. It was coloured purple.

"And we got them, Kelsey! Just like always!" A male voice said.

"Of course we did, Max." A female voice replied, "We always, always get what we go for."

"Who's there?-!" Nathen exclaimed, wary. He knew that big, flashy entrances were not TUA's thing, they weren't Team Rocket, they didn't use novelty machines that they didn't even really need, they did it all themselves. Only a few times in their known history had they ever been _spotted_ in their crimes, let alone alerted a whole town to their presence… except that explosion… hmm… "You're blabbing, Authoress!" Nathen shouted, giving a look to the sky. Only he heard the bit about him knowing about the lack of flashy entrances, everyone else just heard everything from 'big', but naturally it still annoyed them all. Alright, alright, sheesh! God I can't wait to torture you all more…

_"Stupid freaking freaky humans! Let us go!"_ The unusually feisty Constelescent said as it tried to twist and turn its starts to struggle. It wasn't working very well. And yes… most Constelescent are _not_ so feisty…

"I believe you are the freak here, extraterrestrial being!" Kelsey's voice snapped. Oh you have to be kidding me…

"What?" Nathen asked, confused.

"Yeah, I double team that." TJ said. I'm not going to ask about the phrase, man… but believe me, the two you are now facing are no contest for you… hell, you can beat them easy!

"OI! Shut up out there! We are the PMC and you are not going to beat us! We are here for these Pokémon! Now leave us alone, earthlings!" Max yelled from the vehicle.

"You say that like you're an alien." Jaspa said in a monotone, arms folding.

"…Who says we're not?-!" Max exclaimed quickly. A loud facepalm was heard.

"Max, shut up and bring in the catch! You are not good at talking without making us seems like fools!" Kelsey said, groaning loudly. She must've pressed something, because a minute later you could see into the cabin of the vehicle through clear class, not the darkened stuff it was before. A young man and woman dressed in dark goggles, black and red uniforms and boots, the boy had purple hair, and the girl dark green.

"Wait… PMC?" Indigo said.

"Know something about them?" Jaspa asked.

"A story from May and Ash, and Grandma! They met a group that called themselves the 'Pokémon Mystery Club', they try and prove all Pokémon come from outer space. These guys, must be either the kids or grandkids of those people." Indigo explained.

"And we have now got even more evidence! We have caught many a Lunatone and Cleffa, but this Pokémon, this star, this Pokémon is new!"

"_I believe others of my species usually land in Monoko, stupid bastards!_" Constelescent said as it struggled more. Lunatone seemed to sigh, and Cleffa giggled a little, making Nevee 'Awww' at it. TJ ruffled her hair.

"Oh shut up!" Kelsey snapped.

"Everyone want to join me in saving these poor Pokémon?" Nathen said, grabbing a Poké Ball. Jaspa, surprisingly, was the second to call out a Pokémon, and right after that… Nevee did! Geez, the scaredy-cat is being brave, and the uncaring one is caring! Freaky!

"Shut up, Authoress, I can be a normal human sometimes too." Jaspa said, giving the sky a glare. I know, I know, sheesh, take a joke!

"Come on out Cynders!" Nevee called, throwing her fire type starter's Poké Ball.

"Bulbasaur, come on, you too!" Jaspa called, prying Indigo off but grabbing her hand for a moment after. She smiled.

"And out you come Pidgeot!" Nathen said, throwing his Pokémon's ball too. All three Pokémon appeared, all ready to attack.

"…Crud…" Max said.

"This is so why we should carry Pokémon! We left all our technology back at home! Ugh!" Kelsey groaned. …Well you guys sure didn't turn out to be the filler people I wanted. "Oh shut up!"

"First the arms, then the machine!" Nathen said, getting a nod off the others. "Aerial Ace, Pidgeot!"

"Vine Whip, Bulbasaur."

"Ember with allllll ya power, Cynders!"

Aerial Ace hit and broke the arm holding Constelescent (who promptly made a speedy get away), Vine Whip repeatedly smashed against the arm holding Lunatone until it also snapped, and Ember somehow managed to shoot all the way through the arm on its first connection. Nevee, of course, cheered overenthusiastically about this.

"Clef! Cleffa!" Cleffa giggled, landing inside the curve of Lunatone's moon shape, and being floated by it to safety. PMC soon decided it was time to end their short part in this story, and quickly fled, leaving their machine behind and just using jetpacks to escape. Wait, didn't they say they left their technology? Eh, never mind. They're gone.

"That was just way too easy…" Indigo sweatdropped, TJ nodding in agreement.

"_Thank you, humans… we are both very grateful… sorry about Constelescent…_" Lunatone said.

"Its fine, at least you're all saved." Nathen said. Jaspa nodded, and Nevee just giggled. Cleffa had hopped into her arms, smiling at her.

"_It appears my friend wants to stay with the girl."_ Lunatone then said, looking at the human and small pink Pokémon. Cleffa giggled more.

"Yay! Really little Cleffa? Awesome!"

"_She actually calls herself 'Star' more than Cleffa, dear girl._" Lunatone explained, sounding as if, if it could, it would be smiling.

"Clef!" Cleffa said, somehow knowing what a Poké Ball was and pointing to an empty one. Nevee giggled and grabbed it, pressing it to Cleffa so the button to capture it was activated, and she was sucked inside, the 'click' noise signalling capture almost immediate.

"I caught my first wild Pokémon! Yay!" Nevee cheered, holding the ball up. TJ laughed.

"If that can be called a Capture…" Jaspa muttered. Lunatone looked to him now.

"_You boy… battle."_

"Huh?" Jaspa said, for once using that rare confused tone.

"_Battle me. Catch me. You seem… intriguing, boy. Catch me._"

"…I suppose I can't turn down a challenge." Jaspa said with a dismissive shrug.

~X~X~X~

**_Generator/Centre…_**

"How much longer do you think she can keep that up?" Joy asked, getting worried for Pika's health. She'd been pumping electricity into the machine continuously for most of the time that we were with the team at the Meteor. Pika didn't seem to be having any trouble, she truly was just as strong as her ancestors (meaning the previous two generations, *sweatdrop*), keeping the power up with ease. Thus, inside, they were doing what they now could for Crystal, even if the three teens present with her and the doctors knew that as soon as they were out of the area, she could be healed fully.

"She can, don't worry. Besides, soon they should be able to destroy the meteor and everything'll go back to normal. Whatever normal is." Scarlet said with a shrug.

"What's taking them so long anyway?" Auberon said, now sitting up in a tree, absentmindedly twirling a Poké Ball on top of his finger. Show off. "Says you."

Anyway, they're just finishing off some business, the Meteor will be dealt with soon. Just keep it up a little longer.

"Easy for you to say."

"Auberon, you're doing nothing…" Scarlet said, giving him a look and sweatdropping. Auberon shrugged, letting go of the Poké Ball by accident, and quickly reaching to grab it as he fell… causing him to fall right off the branch and land face first in the dirt.

"…I meant to do that…" He grunted.

"Sure you did, Aube, sure you did…"

~X~X~X~

"Alright, Bulbasaur, do you think you're up for fighting Lunatone here? Even with the few moves you have?" Jaspa asked. His starter nodded, getting into a battle stance. Jaspa kept a hand on an empty Poké Ball.

"_This should be interesting._" Lunatone said, before its eyes began to glow blue.

"Leech Seed!" Jaspa called, knowing if it hit he'd automatically be at a slight advantage. Bulby's bulb grew a little bigger for a second, then out of the top it shot a little brown seed. Lunatone dodged it, though, and it fell harmlessly to the ground, the vines that sprouted from it trying to connect to something but they couldn't, only used to being used against a breathing creature. Jaspa cursed.

"Luuunaaa…" Lunatone then moaned in Pokémon language, before the glowing eyes became a Confusion attack, lifting poor Bulby a couple of feet off the ground. Bulby yelped a bit, the psychic move being super effective, not helped by the fact he was then slammed against the ground by the move.

"Bulbasaur…!" Jaspa exclaimed. Indigo couldn't help but smile at the fact her cared. "Use Leech Seed again, get your energy back from it!"

Bulby pushed himself to his feet, just about, and the bulb on his back shot another seed, this one catching the end of Lunatone's curve as he tried to dodge, digging its way in and spreading its life-sucking vines all around the rock type. Lunatone let out a pained moan as a red light shone, signalling the fact its energy was being taken, but despite cringing it fought against it, and used a slightly wobbly tackle attack.

"Vine Whip!"

Bulby shot out vines, grabbed the Pokémon and threw it away before it could hit him with tackle, and the red light shone again, Bulby getting more energy and Lunatone losing more.

"And now Take Down!" Jaspa ordered. The small Pokémon charged at the fallen Lunatone, but before it could connect its attack it was thrown away by Confusion, meaning it got not only the super effective damage, but was the only one to receive damage from the Take Down attack. It was given some health back by another zap from Leech Seed, but it was barely enough to get it standing again. "Crap… wasn't the best of ideas… um… try Vine Whip!"

But Lunatone dodged, it wasn't a fast enough attack now, Lunatone had the most energy left, and if it got another hit in before Bulbasaur had regained enough energy from the leeching, then the battle was over already.

But suddenly, and believe me I mean suddenly, even I didn't see this coming, Bulbasaur began to glow. Everyone's eyes became their widest yet as its form changed, growing into a larger form. When the bright light disappeared, Bulby was now an Ivysaur!

"Ivysaur! Saur!" Ivysaur said, with a more confident smile than normal, firing off a stronger Vine Whip and catching Lunatone by surprise. He was hit, and this time he was beat.

"Whoa…!" Indigo said. Ivysaur turned to Jaspa and grinned.

"Ivysaur! Ivy Saur, Saur!" He said. Jaspa smiled a little once, threw a Poké Ball, waited for Lunatone to be captured and the ball to magically fly back to him (yes, now they will even do that!), then bent down and rubbed Ivysaur behind the ear, making him lean into his master's hand, smiling.

"Well done, B-… Ivysaur." He said. Ivysaur continued grinning.

"That's your second capture, right?" Indigo asked as he stood up, holding Ivysaur in his arms and with Lunatone's ball clipped to the side of his belt.

"Yes, first was Devire, and this Lunatone was my second." Jaspa nodded, "And I believe I'm second in our group to have their starter evolve."

"Auberon'll be jealous." Indigo giggled.

"Now we have to get rid of that Meteor somehow." Nathen said, grabbing a Poké Ball, "We need to destroy it."

"What do you have in mind?" TJ asked.

"This, Lucario, Bone Rush repeatedly on that Meteor!" He ordered, throwing the ball. His Pokémon came out and immediately began the attack, breaking the meteor up. Ivysaur helped the best it could with its vines, but it wasn't much. It took about five minutes, but soon it was dust, and the sparks that had been there disappeared.

"I think that did it. Return, Lucario, Pidgeot." Nathen said, aiming the Poké balls at them and letting them be returned. Jaspa rubbed Ivysaur's head once more before also returning him. Indigo's smile never wavered seeing how much he now started to care.

"I caught a cutie too! Yay!" Nevee giggled as she jumped back on TJ's back for another Grumpiggy Ride. TJ smiled, and looked like he was thinking something along the lines of 'And I think I found someone just as cute.'

"Come on, I need to see how Crystal is. We better hurry back to the others." Nathen said, already beginning to walk.

_Wonder if Jazz cares about me as much as Nathen cares about Crystal…_ Nevee thought as they started walking. She looked to her brother, and he caught her, and… he gave a small smile. Nevee giggled again, happy.

~X~X~X~

**Me: WAAAH! CATCH THEM ALREADY!**

**Kim:****I AM NOT A CHATTER BOX MAYLU! Dammit, get back here Shadow!**

**Me: NATHEN'S UNIVERSE, HUH?**

**Kim: Yup…**

**Me: WELL PROVE YOU'RE NOT A CHATTERBOX AND CATCH SHADOW! I'M DYING HERE!**

**LF: Not quite…**

**Me: BLAZE AND SHADOW HAVE BOTH NEARLY GOT ME! OH THANK GOD THE ONE WHO ISN'T ACTUALLY OUT TO KILL ME IS FASTEST! HEY, KIM, WHILST YOU'RE HERE DO ME ONE FAVOUR! READ THIS! *throws paper***

**Kim: Okay…? *reads* Authors note stuff? Oh! Um… *cough* Sorry for the wait, and hope the length makes up for that, and that is not _too _long. Hope that is okay with you, Nathen, with how your OC entered into this, and as mentioned, Crystal won't be injured for long. To other OC owners, your OC will make appearances, don't worry, there's been a big break since we had someone's OC (minus TJ) in, but she'd promised Nathen and LF a certain location(s) for their OC, so… Well, that's all it says! *then waves* Hi Nathen!**

**Me: GET BACK TO HELPING!**

**Kim: Oh, right! *starts running again***


	53. Ep 52: Training

**Me: I SWEAR MY LEGS ARE GOING TO FALL OFF! WAAAH!**

**LF: *Sweatdrops* **

**Alex: To be fair, part of this you have yourself to blame for!**

**Me: BLAZE COULD EASILY CHASE THE ONE WHO'S STILL IN THE POKEMON WOLRD! WAA-Eep! *Shadow grabs her***

**Shadow: (Got you!)**

**Me: Eep! Let go! Let go! Blaze'll get me! LET GO!**

**Kim: There we go! Return, Shadow! *grabbing his Poké Ball from him and returning the Zoroark* One down, one to-… oh crap!**

**LF: Blaze!**

**Me: *shrieks as Blaze grabs onto her whilst she was still* CRAAP!**

**Episode 52- Training**

**"Last chapter: A incident with a meteor and a duo of idiots from a group who call themselves the 'Pokémon Mystery Club' disrupted our heroes' day/night, but now power is restored and the injured Crystal is recovering, the morning after…"**

"How you feeling, Crystal?" Nathen asked as he walked downstairs with his sister once she exited her room, where she'd stayed with Kate.

"My arm hurts, and my head aches, but I'm okay, so don't worry. Lucy and Hotaru promised to heal me once we're out of range of this place, so I'll be perfectly fine soon." Crystal assured him with a smile, patting his shoulder with her good hand. Nathen smiled back, feeling a little relived.

"There you guys are! Come on! We have a lot of ground to cover! Authoress says she wants us all to get to the blooming city today! Ha, like that's going to happen!" Scarlet called up the stairs, peering around the wall before turning and walking off, laughing.

The two on the stairs sweatdropped.

"I think we better follow." Nathen said. Crystal nodded.

"Come on you guys!" Kate said, waving from the lobby. Nathen and Crystal joined the group who were all packing up their bags to get moving again, Nevee playing with her new Cleffa, and TJ's cute little Snowrunt. TJ watched them with a smile, ruffling Nevee's hair. Everyone could see the instant connection the two had forged, and only three could delve deeper into how this might have come about the way it had. Maybe Nevee's gift was a sweet one, to connect easily despite her initially strange appearance to people, her strange behaviour.

"Good to see you feeling a bit better, Crystal." Gem said from by the door, leaning against the wall beside it.

"Thanks Authoress. I hope you didn't have anything to do with me getting injured, though." Crystal said. Gem rolled her eyes a little.

"I've been asked that question a lot. No, I didn't have anything to do with your injuries." She assured, semi-truthfully. No one bothered to ask again, they'd only get the same answer.

"So… you _honestly_ think we can make it to the next damn city in one day? It takes us a day to get to each Poké Centre for god's sake!" Scarlet said. Gem chuckled.

"You'd be surprised. This timeline is dodgy as hell, remember, so…" She shrugged, then stood up straight. "Alright team; it's time to move out!"

"Team…?" Auberon said with a raised eyebrow.

"Shut up, live with it, and get moving!"

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"What're we going to do today? Other than travel, I mean." Kathryn asked as the group walked.

"I dunno to be fair, I didn't plan much for today. Other than reaching the City." Gem replied with a shrug.

A cough was heard. "Which we'll never do." Another cough. Gem facepalmed.

"I swear, I know who is saying that and I will hit you."

"You'd be attacking a minor then! So there!"

"So? I'm all powerful, so shut up!" Gem said, rolling her eyes. A snicker echoed from the familiar voice, and Gem just rolled her eyes again.

"How about training?" TJ suggested.

"That sounds good to me! We haven't battled in a while!" Auberon piped in eagerly. Gem folded her arms, and looked like this was thinking about it.

"I don't know… I'm still not so good with battles… writing a bunch in one chapter would be hell." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh come on Authoress! Just a couple of training battles!" Scarlet chimed. Gem sighed.

"Fine, but only for those who really want to. The others can watch or do their own thing." She said, giving in. A few cheers echoed through the group. "Who really wants to battle?"

"I so do!" Auberon and Scarlet said in unison, and though both blushed, neither seemed otherwise visually embarrassed like they would normally be by this.

"I do too, I haven't got a chance to use any of my Pokémon since I got here." TJ said, giving Gem a look. She sweatdropped.

"Sorry, I got distracted by bigger plots I guess. Heh…" The troubled authoress said, scratching the back of her head. TJ chuckled.

"I guess I'll join in." Nathen said, "Need to prepare for that gym."

"I'll stay out of it, thanks." Jaspa said.

"Me too, I can train some other time, I should have time before my turn at the gym." Indigo added, clasped as ever tightly onto Jaspa's arm. He seemed tense today, so she was rubbing circles on his arm to calm him, not wanting him to snap in front of everyone and have to reveal his secret. No one ever questioned them anymore, even if there was of course the occasional cheeky teasing comment off the more daring members of the group, like Auberon.

"We'll both stay out, we don't have many Pokémon on us." Hotaru said, gesturing to herself and Lucy. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"I'll watch TJ!" Nevee cheered. Gem giggled.

"I'll just be referee myself. What about you girls?" She then said, looking at the scarlet haired and white haired girls.

"I better stay out of it, for obvious reasons." Crystal said.

"I think I'll sit out too, I can sit with Crystal, plus it keeps your numbers even." Kathryn said. Gem nodded.

"That should all work. Fine then, let's find a clearing and get some battles started!"

A cheer echoed from two people in the group, with a less exaggerated cheer coming from the other two battlers. Gem sweatdropped.

"God this group is bonkers…"

"You just realised that?" Lucy said, giving her a look, eyebrow raised.

"I knew from day one, girl, I knew from day one."

~X~X~X~

"Alright then, this may as well be a veeeery tiny tournament, two battles, then the final. So just three battles for me to write/think of!" Gem said, sitting on a log as her Blaziken laid it down for the spectators along with another log. "TJ, you can fight Auberon first, and Scarlet, you can go against Nathen!"

"And that totally means I am out straight away, doesn't it?" Scarlet said with a groan. Nathen chuckled.

"You might beat me."

"As if, Nathen, as if." Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes, "You're much stronger than me, man, I'll never beat you."

"Ah well, you'll put up a good fight, I'm sure."

"You bet I will!"

"I'll do a coin toss to decide what order the fights will be in, okay? Then to decide who moves first." Gem said, grabbing a Poké coin. "Heads means Nathen and Scarlet first, Tails, TJ and Auberon." She flicked the coin in the air, and it fell back perfectly in her hand, revealing a it was Heads.

"So we're up first… well, I can get my embarrassingly quick defeat over with soon then! My contest stuff won't help at all here." Scarlet whined. Nathen chuckled again.

"Come on then, let's do this." He said, taking a Poké Ball. Scarlet sighed, grabbing her own Poké Ball, and the two walked out to the makeshift battle space. Scarlet was slumped the whole way over, but she stood up when she reached her spot and _tried_ to look confident and excited for the battle like any other.

"You guys know the rules for one on ones, and I can't be arsed to do refereeing, so you can rely on yourselves and any random input from the others to decide on what's wrong, what's right, and who's lost. Okay? Good. Now just start."

"God you really do hate battles don't you?" Auberon said. Gem gave him a look. "Right, we knew that."

"Of course, now come on! Just start!" Gem said, clapping her hands. Everyone just sweatdropped, before the two battling nodded once.

"Go, Pika!"

"Go, Charmeleon!"

The two Pokémon both appeared, Scarlet's recently obtained powerful electric type and Nathen's fiery lizard. The Pikachu quickly dropped to all fours, indented tail in the air and sparks around it. Charmeleon's tail flame flared up, and he gave a taunting 'bring it on' movement with one of his claws, a flame lit on the end of it. Pika rolled her brown eyes, shooting a small warning spark to hit the ground in front of the Lizard, making it jump. She snickered.

"Good one, Pika! Now come on, let's get this started!" So much for a toss for who's first. "Thunderbolt!"

Pika's tail sparked more, as did her red cheeks, an attack forming.

"Fire Fang!" Nathen ordered.

Flames began to flash around the Charmeleon's sharp fang-like teeth, at exactly the same time as Pika's sparks climaxed, peaking into a lightning shaped bolt that fired off directly at the flaming lizard. Charmeleon saw it coming, however, and easily dodged it, never losing focus on his flaming fangs. The flames intensified, and soon he ran at the electric mouse, mouth wide open, ready to bite the Pokémon.

"Thunderbolt again!" Scarlet quickly reacted, Pika quickly charging up another attack, only the next few seconds able to tell us if it was quickly enough.

Just as her attack was fired, Charmeleon had reached her, mouth wide open and about to clamp down. A flash of light from the electric type attack, blocking the result from view. Everyone watched, not too on the edge of their seats, they knew this likely wouldn't be a battle ending move, but they still needed to see the result.

The light faded, and Charmeleon skidded back, covered in electricity burns, whilst Pika skidded just a little, wincing as one of her paws gave out, making her fall, still conscious, but pushing up. Her left front paw was the only part of her bitten by Charmeleon's attack, and there were burns around the wound, as well as… a small bit of _blood_ leaking out.

Jaspa had the scent immediately, and even Nevee went a little dizzy from the smell. But only Jaspa reacted more than that, trying to make it look casual, he whispered nothingness to Indigo, and then walked off, as fast as he could without it being suspicious. Indigo didn't need words to know what was wrong, and when there had been a long enough pause between his leaving and her movement, she stood up and walked off after him.

"Guess we went a little overboard there." Nathen said.

"Nah, I don't think you did. It happens sometimes, nothing an Oran berry won't fix." Scarlet said with a wave of her hand, before she quickly got refocused. "Iron Tail this time!"

~X~X~X~

"You okay?"

"I'll be fine… just gimme a minute and don't get too close…"

Indigo sighed and took a step back from Jaspa, who by now had leant against a tree, arms against the trunk and his head rested between them.

"Does… it really bother you that much?" Indigo asked slightly shyly, hands clasped in front of you.

"It's bothers me just as much as Dax does you… whenever it around, it strikes…" Jaspa replied sharply, though he tried not to. Indigo flinched from the comparison, "Sorry…"

"Its fine… I… I get what you mean… its… its valid comment, it's okay… you can't really help what you say anyway…"

"I'm still sorry… please just give me a minute…"

"Alright… I know… I know…"

~X~X~X~

"I so told you I'd lose!" Scarlet said as she picked Pika up, holding her in a pair of cradled arms. Pika nuzzled, giving a sorry squeak, "Its fine, Pika."

"You did very well though. Guess I'm against either of the other two now, wonder who'll win." Nathen said, shrugging a bit.

"Me!" Auberon said, cheering with a fist in the air. TJ sweatdropped.

"Overconfidence can be your downfall." Kate pointed out smartly. Auberon stuck his tongue out.

"Watch it kiddo." Nathen muttered before sitting down by his female friend. Kate shuffled a little closer to him.

"C'mon! I wanna battle!" Auberon whined at how slow it was being. TJ chuckled and stood up, just about making Nevee let go, then going to his side of the battle field. Auberon quickly ran to his, and grabbed his Poké Ball before TJ had even considered which of his Pokémon to use. "Turtwig! Come on out!"

"Geez he's impatient… Grovyle, you come out!" TJ called, throwing his own Poké ball.

"Now that's just mad! Déjà Vu much?" Auberon said, thinking back to his battle with Nicole. Grovyle and Turtwig, otherwise known as Twiggy (god do I come up with the cheesiest most annoying nicknames ever?), both appeared on the field, facing each other, determined looks on their faces. Turtwig gave his trainer a look, before shrugging his stubby shoulders and facing the other grass type. Grovyle had that typical Grovyle smugness to him, and all his muscles were tensed, ready to move.

"Starts this off with Quick Attack, Grovyle!" TJ ordered. Auberon smirked.

"Oh big mistake, Grovyle's may be quick, but my Turtwig is pretty fast for his species! Turtwig, dodge and use Razor Leaf!"

TJ didn't seem to believe it at first, though much like Nevee most of his quirky side was gone by the time he began a battle, and told his Pokémon to go ahead anyway, watching as Grovyle sped at the other Pokémon so fast that that bright white light appeared behind him, marking his path. You can imagine his surprise when the Turtwig did, in fact, manage to dodge and fire off a flurry of twisting green leaves, that also left behind that tell tale white light.

"Dodge that, Grovyle!" Sure it wouldn't affect him much, but he didn't want any damage caused if he could help it. Grovyle nodded and went to take a move to dodge the leaves, but he was a split second too late, and the right side of his body was hit, whilst the other side remained untouched. "Drat! Alright, Grovyle, use Fury Cutter now!"

"Ah sh-…"  
"AUBERON!"

"Shamrock!"

"…That was the worst, craziest one yet…" Gem sighed, with a small giggle.

"Turtwig, just do your best to avoid that attack! Stupid Bug type moves…" Auberon groaned.

Grovyle had already charged the Fury Cutter attack on his sharp claws, and ran at the fast Turtwig. Twiggy dodged as many times as he could, but his stubby legs weren't so good at small distance speed, and he soon found himself on his stomach, getting hit repeatedly with Fury Cutter.

"Aaiiii! Use Withdraw, fast!" Auberon said in a panicked voice as his Pokémon was hit by the attack, super effective attack might I add, and needing a veeeery quick way of just giving him a little more protection whilst he thought of another move.

Turtwig quickly followed the orders, curling up so his brown shell took the brunt of the force of the attack, lowering the damage taken just by a smidgen.

"Keep it going! He can't take too much!" TJ said. This looked like it was soon to be an easy win, when…

"Turtwig?"

Suddenly the Tiny Leaf Pokémon started to glow a bright light (oh like you didn't see this was coming soon!), and began to quickly change shape, forming into a new, larger Pokémon, with two bushes on its back. The light faded away and revealed the newly evolved Grotle, who quickly stood up and shoved away the Grovyle's attack with the same movement.

"Hell YES! Finally you evolved! Alright, now, use Toxic!"

"Have you been stealing from my store cupboard again?-!" Gem yelled from the sidelines. Auberon sweatdropped nervously, but tried not to get too distracted as his Pokémon formed the large bubble of purple, toxic liquid and threw it over the Grovyle.

"Looks like this just got a little less easy…"

"Hey, anyone know where the other two have gone?" Lucy said, looking around curiously. She hadn't seen the two leave before, and she couldn't feel their auras very clearly, they couldn't be far but her sensing was still a little dodgy.

"Nope, I didn't see them leave." Hotaru said, "They're not far though."

"Why would they leave?" Kathryn asked. Gem giggled.

"Maybe they just wanted to go be alone, they do that sometimes." She said, waving a dismissive hand to make sure the oblivious members of the group didn't find out the real reason Jaspa ran off. Lucy and Hotaru both just gave the other an understanding nod, looking back to the now bandaged Pikachu's paw.

"Hey, Gem? Is there gonna be a prize for who wins?" Scarlet asked.

"And you need to know why? You're not even in this anymore, Scarlet." Gem said, giving her a look. Scarlet shrugged, "Well, no, I wasn't planning on a prize, it's just a training session for the contest and Gym, so…" She shrugged too.

"That sucks."

"It doesn't even apply to you anyway."

"So?"

"Shut up Scarlet."

"Nah."

"For god's sake… Anyway, we actually just missed the end of the battle." Gem said as she gestured to the battle, where TJ had still managed to win despite the evolution of the other's Pokémon. "Why does that result not surprise me?"

"Ah shuddup Big Mouth!" Auberon said, crossing his arms and giving her a glare.

"Come on; let's just get this final battle over with! I have too many battles to write in the next few chapters and I wanna get this one over and done with!" Gem whined.

"God you are being very childish." Nathen said. Gem shrugged.

"It's who I am. Now come on, get your butt up Nathen and go and fight TJ!" Gem said, shoving the boy up off the seat on the tree trunk. Nathen rolled his red eyes and grabbed his Poké Ball, going to Auberon's abandoned side of the field as TJ grabbed another Poké Ball of his own.

"Time to get this started! Swellow, you're up pal!" TJ called as he threw his next Poké Ball into the air, catching it as it magically flew back to his hand.

"A flying type huh? Well, let's make this a sky battle then! Pidgeot, come out!" Nathen said as he threw his own ball, releasing his own bird Pokémon, leaving the swallow and bird Pokémon in the air. Their wings' flapping was the only noise for a moment, before the battle began.

"You start this off with a Quick Attack, Swellow! Show your speed!" TJ ordered. Swellow quickly did so (no, there was no pun intended), and flew at the other winged Pokémon with the same white trail behind him as the earlier Grovyle.

"Gust, Pidgeot!" Nathen countered.

As the red breasted Pokémon got nearer to the brown and cream bird, a strong wing forced its way through the air and hit the Swallow at full strength, driving it backwards by a good couple of metres, and more importantly stopping its speedy attack.

"Now use Twister!"

"Double Team to avoid it, Swellow!"

Both moves were used, lifelike copies of Swellow were scattered around the sky above the battlefield and it was near impossible to tell which one was the real version. Wind whipped up in the air at high speeds, twisting into a swirling tornado, destroying a few of the copies with just the force of the wind being pulled into the twister. It then proceeded to move around, controlled by the flapping of Pidgeot's wings, destroying each of the copies, but strangely not finding the real one.

"Uh?"

"Now, Swellow!"

Pidgeot looked up, and then suddenly something hit him at blinding speed with a sharp beak and attack. Pidgeot was not only caught off guard, but he had only just stopped his own attack, and he was soon thrown to the ground by the Aerial Ace.

"Hell yes, Direct Hit!" TJ cheered.

"Oh, this isn't ending so soon! Counter with your own Aerial Ace!" Nathen ordered in response.

~X~X~X~

"Is it… safe to come closer yet?"

"I wouldn't… your blood's too alluring, and I still have to get over that stench… it's still in the air even here…"

"Oh, okay…" Indigo sighed, sitting back down on the floor. Jaspa was still against the tree, trying to block out the allure of blood, "Is… Nevee this affected?"

"No, she's not so conscious of it… her obliviousness slows the effects, she has the same rate of transformation as me, she… she just doesn't feel it so much…" Jaspa said, nails digging into the tree's bark. Indigo soon got bored, and to occupy herself she grabbed a tree branch, starting to climb.

"I guess she's got it lucky…" The blue eyed girl said as she pulled herself up, arms shaking a little. Jaspa shook his head.

"No, she'll be hit hardest when the full transformation occurs… ugh… and to think, another child has to go through this in ten years too…" The half-vampire boy groaned.

"I almost forgot about your new sibling coming soon… this isn't fair on any of you… Walter and Gemma can't be happy that they weren't warned about this…"

"They're near unique, and they weren't shocked… the Volturi never tell anyone anything… they weren't surprised when they got the letter on our ninth birthday explaining it…" He replied with a deep breath, still trying to get the smell out of his head.

"Are you gonna be just like the Twilight Vamps?" Indigo asked curiously as she clambered to another branch.

"No, we won't be affected at all by the sun, and we can eat human food… we're going to be like Nessie, but also a lot more like vampires from fairy tales… fangs, the whole load of shit… spare burning in the sun…" He grunted, hitting the tree. Indigo was about to ask something else, when suddenly her hand slipped off the roughly barked branch, and she fell.

"Eep!"

"Indigo?-!" Jaspa exclaimed, about to turn around, when he got a familiar whiff of something all too sweet smelling and alluring to his nostrils as they flared to take a deeper sniff.

Indigo sat up, rubbing her head, then wincing as she realised her arm was cut by the branch and a small trickle of blood was seeping from it. She grabbed the wound, covering the blood and then taking the hand away again, blood now on her hand which she quickly wiped on the grass. Then she heard deep breathing, and she gasped realising what smell must have just reached Jaspa. She turned to him, and his eyes were now blood red… without another moment of consideration, he was at her side, grabbing her arm with his tongue tracing along the bleeding cut. Indigo's eyes widened, and she tried to tug her arm away.

"No, Jaspa! Stop! Or you won't be able to! Stop!" Indigo yelped. She couldn't get her arm away from his inhuman grip without her already fragile body breaking from the force, and soon she felt fangs poke at the skin around the wound. "Jaspa! No! _Stop!_ STOP!"

The fangs sank in.

~X~X~X~

**(HELL YES CLIFF-HANGER!)**

**LF: We'll get you out of there!**

**Me; HURRY! HE'S GONNA KILL ME! *struggling against the Infernape* HEY, KIM! READ THE AN STUFF!**

**Kim: Uh, okay! *reads* Pointless battle chapter she thinks she did okay in, even if the battles were incomplete and short. Auberon had to have his evolve, or my god he wouldn't stop bugging her. The end bit came randomly, and she would like to say she is also going to base her vampire characters, meaning Jaspa and Nevee, a little more off a new manga she is reading called 'Vampire Knight'('s) vampires, since they don't sparkle and are kinda awesome. Wonder how the end will affect the rest of the story, not that much she doubts.**

**Me; NOW SAVE ME!**

**Alex: Oh boy…**


	54. Ep 53: City at Last!

**Me: *struggling* WAAAH! HELP! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!**

**LF: *facepalm* Stay calm! You're not helping!**

**Kim: We'll get you out of there, don't worry!**

**Me: THAT DOES NOT REASSURE ME!**

**Alex: Join us later, when we might actually sort this out. *sigh***

**Episode 53- City at last!**

**"Last chapter, was bloody pointless, that's what! And no, I haven't forgotten you can get to me now, it's true! *cough* Anyway, an evolution occurred, and three random battles too. However, just for you readers to know, another matter must now be seen to…"**

"Jaspa! No! _Stop!_ STOP!"

The fangs sank in.

Indigo could only freeze and let out a gasp, her pupils shrunk into near pin hole sized dots, and her breath caught in her throat as she registered the sharp and momentary pain of the sharp fangs sinking into her arm and clumsily trying to feed from the thick blood that ran in her veins. She felt the warm, red liquid seep from the miniscule gap between the fangs and flesh and roll down her arm, hitting the floor with a tiny little thump. She didn't know how she picked it up, maybe it was because her body was now connected to him by her blood as some of the metallic liquid made its way into his own bloodstream and stomach, though he had no true idea how his fangs worked.

"J-Jaspa…! Please! Stop it! Ow! Stop! J-Jas!" She wondered why she felt no burning, maybe he hadn't gotten venom yet, maybe he never would, but that didn't mean she liked this. "_STOP_!"

Jaspa couldn't stop, the sweet, sweet blood sank down his throat and through his veins as it soaked through his fangs, though he was being extremely clumsy and spilling her blood everywhere. He had to stop. He had to stop this, it wasn't right, he was drinking his best friend's… his… his… his own love's blood, and he was such a monster that he couldn't stop! He knew this was going to happen one day, how did he let himself get so close to her?-! He knew the inevitable would occur, he knew it! This was always going to happen from day one, no matter what! Why did he have to be so stupid?-!

…She was hurt, too, that's why…

That last thought snapped Jaspa out of his bloodlust, his eyes dulled back to the yellow everyone was familiar with, realising what he was doing at last, and his fangs stopped trying to take in her blood. Slowly he moved the long canines out of her arm, looking up at her with wide eyes, blood around his mouth.

Indigo looked horrified at him, shifting back and holding the bleeding puncture wounds tightly with her hand to stop the blood. She looked more scared of the Vampire side of him than he had ever seen before. Jaspa was scared out of his wits; ashamed too, everything he feared had just happened.

"J-Jas…" She began to cry as she said his name, but to his shock she didn't run away, she hugged him tightly. Jaspa was stunned, and she soon moved back to make sure she wouldn't tempt him again, "I…"

"I-I'm so sorry, Indi… I… I couldn't stop myself…"

"It's okay… shhhhh…" She gently patted his shoulder with her good arm, and touched his cheek, wiping the blood off from around his mouth and gently pushing her thumb into his pursed lips, pressing it against his tongue and letting him lick the blood away, "I understand…" Her voice still shook, but she tried to hide it. She was still scared though, but she didn't want him to think she hated him. He managed a weak smile.

Indigo took out a cloth and cleaned up all the blood around his mouth, then the blood on her arm, putting a bandage around it so she could claim it was just from the fall from the tree. She went to open her mouth to speak to him, but someone burst in.

"There you are! Come on you two, we gotta go! Get to the city! We're closer than we thought apparently!" Scarlet called as she ran in, waving to them, "Come on! Hurry slow pokes!"

"We're coming, Scarlet, don't worry." Indigo said, helping Jaspa to his feet. She just held his hand, not clutching too tightly. Jaspa held back a smile at her understanding.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"And finally we are here in the city! God, only took about ten chapters!" Gem said, sighing in relief shortly after, wiping her forehead of non-existent sweat.

"Your fault." Someone coughed.

"I know, I know. Sheesh, I get it. I'm a slow writer, deal with it." Gem said, giving the speaker a glare, before stretching a bit, "Alrighty then, let's go to the Pokémon centre and get rooms sorted!"

"Is it… safe to heal my arm?" Crystal asked.

"I'll do it for you as soon as we get to the centre, okay?" Hotaru said, giving the young girl a smile. Crystal nodded, smiling too.

"Thanks. It's already really annoying me." She said, looking at the sling holding up her injured arm.

"Come on, let's get to the centre as soon as we can then." Nathen said, putting a hand on his sister's good shoulder. She smiled at her big brother.

"Let's get moving!" Gem said as she started to walk. Everyone began following, quietly at first, before the usual bickering between our favourite elf and red eyed girl began, shortly followed by groans, chuckles or sighs. Gem giggled a little for a moment, then saw the centre coming up, "We're nearly there, guys!"

"Good! I'm starved!" Scarlet said. Auberon nodded quickly in agreement.

"We only ate a little while ago." Kate pointed out.

"This is Auberon and Scarlet we're talking about, remember," Nathen replied with a laugh. Kate thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Good point," she then giggled.

"Hey! Slow down! Geez! You're doing it again!" A familiar voice called after someone.

"Doing what? I'm only going to the Pokémon Centre! Geez to you!" Another voice said, snickering.

"You're rushing way too fast again! Stop!" The first voice, now able to be told to be male, as the voices got closer. Just as the group turned to face the voices, someone slammed right through the middle of them, narrowly missing the injured Crystal, then promptly face planted on the floor with a skid. A boy groaned as he managed to stop before skidding as she had.

"Well done sis, you just made a total fool of yourself." The familiar boy groaned, dressed in a light blue T-shirt, red sleeveless jacket, jeans, dark blue socks, black shoes, red fingerless gloves, and a blue messenger bag, he brushed a hair through his messy honey brown hair, letting it fall into a different arrangement.

"Shuddup…!" The girl said, muffled by the floor. She pushed herself up with a little 'pop' as her face left the dent in the floor, sitting to reveal blue eyes. Her blonde hair was left loose. She wore a blue and purple bandana, a white and purple T-shirt, red cargo pants, dark purple socks, dark blue shoes, purple fingerless gloves and dark purple waist bag.

"Kira? Lance?" Scarlet said first, soon chorused by a few others.

"Oh, hi you guys!" Kira said, hopping up to her feet with a wave.

"You're lucky it wasn't total strangers then! But you still made a total fool out of yourself!" Lance said, laughing lightly to himself now. Kirara stuck her tongue out.

"Oi! How many times do I have to tell you it's KIRA?-!" Kira yelled, directed at the authoress.

"I haven't got control over what that comes out with right now, don't blame me. It reads the data on you and uses that name if it wants to." Gem explained, shrugging, then: "…Shit! I'm supposed to be over in AL! Um… alright, I'll likely be back real quick since it won't seem so long here if I make sure when I come back I'll come back to this exact chapter and just a bit further into your timeline, so ya know. See ya!" She pressed a few things on her watch, and then disappears.

"…That was random. What's AL?" Kira asked.

"Some story she visits a lot. Me and Jas ended up there the once, the people there are nice, though the person she knows best there was here when we were there apparently." Indigo explained casually.

"She doesn't normally disappear with an actual warning she's going though, she normally just disappears for a while and leaves us in time freeze." Auberon said, "I've had so many cramps because of that."

"Well, now what do we do until she comes back?" Nathen asked, then to the twins, "I'm Nathen by the way."

"Kathryn."

"Crystal, hi!"

"Hi to you too, you heard our names from these guys." Kira said, waving again.

"We should probably just go to the centre, that was where she told us to go to." Jaspa said, starting to walk with Indigo following him quickly, though still she didn't cling as close as before, something confusing most of those present.

"He has a point. Come on, let's go." Kate said. The others nodded, and they began walking.

~X~X~X~

**_About an Hour Later… the spot Gem left from…_**

A small flash of light lit up the area as Gem's watch was activated. As the light faded, it was revealed that Gem was no longer alone, a six year old girl clung to her tightly, with dark red hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a little white dress and matching slippers.

Gem herself looked different, she had lost some height, appearing now shorter than the ten year old cast members, the height she would've been at when she was still fifteen. Her hair was short, her fringe dyed black and red, black at the end and red behind it. She was in a pair of black skinny jeans, with chain running down the top half's side of one leg, then circling around it just below the knee, up the side of the other leg a music stave is stitched in with red notes on it. Her shirt is a white, sleeveless turtleneck top with a large black, white and red rose on the front, the rose itself being white, the red blood, and the black ink marks from the writing above it that said 'Blooded Rose'. Over this she wore a black jacket with chain down the upper arm like on her trouser leg, the hood having two 'neko' ears on it, the main jacket having various pockets coloured black, white and red. Her shoes a pair of black high-top sneakers with red and white roses on the sides, and a skull on the tongue.

Something was definitely up. She always remembered to revert back to her adult form.

"H-Here we are…" She sighed, pulling her coat arm back over her watch and looking down to the young girl. "You okay, May?"

"Y-Yeah… I'm okay Gemmy…" The girl, now known as May, said with a small nod, not loosening her grip on the authoress, "Is… Big Brother okay?"

"I… I don't know right now, but I bet he will be May, this is just a precaution. He'll beat the bad guy, he always does…" Gem said, gently ruffling her hair, "And I promised him I'd look after you, so don't leave my side, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Good girl… come on, I need to find my other characters and charges, we'll be with them today, until I have to take you back," Gem continued, holding her hand for the six year old. She took it, and held tightly, "Don't worry, I'll get you back to him and he'll be safe and sound…"

"Thank you… I trust you since big brother does."

Gem smiled at her, and started to lead her through Veilstone, toward the Pokémon Centre. Right now she felt just as nervous as the little girl, she was scared for Nathen back in Auracian Legacy. She had been forced to leave to keep her promise to protect the young girl, and when she left… Nathen wasn't in that good a state.

"There you are!" Her thoughts were broken, something she was for once grateful for, as Auberon saw her and yelled over.

"Who's the kid?" Scarlet said, gesturing to May.

"She's a good friend of mine's sister, I have to look after her for a little bit." Gem explained, keeping her grip on May's hand protectively tight, "Something happened, so it's safer for her here. And that is all I am going to say so don't even bother asking any questions, I am not in the mood."

"Just one. Why're you shorter than normal?" Nathen, from this world (man this could get confusing), asked.

"I forgot to change back to my adult form when I got here, that's all, and I won't be changing back until May is back with her brother. I'll be in AL again for a bit after I take her back too, probably, but you won't notice." Gem said simply, "Now, have you booked rooms?"

"Yeah, we booked some rooms." Indigo said.

"When do we challenge the gym?" Kira asked. Gem shrugged.

"Tomorrow I think, the gym's closed for Jayda to do training today. Jayda's the leader by the way." She explained, "I'm going to take May up to my room to try and get her to rest, no one bother us, just talk amongst yourselves and stuff." Gem said in her authoress tone, taking her key from Jaspa who held it out to her and then leading the young girl to her room.

There was a small silence.

"Something is definitely up." Indigo said, "I mean, Gem would help out a friend like that, but she's stubborn' she had to ignore a 'well no duh' from Auberon, 'not just anyone, friend or foe, could persuade her to leave without her trusting them completely, more than just a simple friend, we've all seen that."

"We can't force her to say though," Lucy commented, knowing full well this could easily have something more to do with Gem's past. Hotaru nodded.

Neither of them thought that what she said was the end of what happened to her, or even the beginning. There was more to her, the ex-TUA members were sure. Maybe they should check records back in TUA's history, there might be something about this other Nathen she goes to in the AL world, or even her herself. Surely somewhere the two different storyverses were linked, Gemma had followed two generations from her different timelined universe, and was on her third, she could easily have been sent to that world from the time May and Ash were still young, as they were told by Indigo and Jaspa the AL world was. Maybe Gemma had some link to this Nathen?

Who knew?

"Come on! Let's go have some fun! What about the game place?" Auberon said.

"I'm pretty sure that, in recent years, since its gambling they've made it for eighteen and up." Nathen said, "I mean, it may mostly be harmless, but more games have been introduced that are for full on money, and lots of tougher guys hand around there from what I've heard."

"Darn…" Scarlet said.  
"Hehe, the great Auberon always has a plan!"

"…This should be interesting." TJ commented. Nevee giggled.

"Bananas!"

~X~X~X~

"Thank you Gemmy…" May said as she sat in Gem's bed, blankets up, her little slippers by the side of the bed.

"No need, May, I promised I'd look after you, and I will. You're a sweet girl, I can really tell you're his sister, you're pure hearted." Gem said with a smile. May smiled back, "Now, I think he told me to get these to give to you, May," Gem said, taking out three Poké Balls.

"But I'm not ten yet, I can't have Pokémon."

"You can, your brother has his ways," Gem smiled, handing the three over, "Why don't you take a look before you go to sleep?"

"Okay," May said, taking the red and white balls, opening them and letting the Pokémon appear. First came a small, male Torchic, second an Azurill, female, and third a Happiny, female, all who looked up at their new owner with a smile, "They're all so cute!" She said as she hugged them all, acting like the innocent child she was.

Gem smiled. At least she wasn't too focused on her brother's possible serious injury anymore. She didn't know how long that would last though.

"Do I have to sleep, Gemmy? Can't I stay up and play? I'm not really even tired." Gem knew she wasn't, but she thought it would've been good for her to rest after what she was seeing back there, though then again, nightmare's come with sleep.

"Sure you can stay up and play, ask for anything you want to play with too, I can get a lot of stuff." She smiled, "You can play in this whole room, I'll just be sitting over on the sofa area, okay?"

"Okay, thank you!"

"No need." Gem said, smiling once more before going to the sofa area. She could keep an eye on May from there, but the girl couldn't see her as easily, so Gem could think freely. May instantly began to play with her new Pokémon, enough distraction for the time being.

Gem sighed as she plopped onto the sofa, laying along it and rubbing her eyes, shaking her head to try and get her hair from her face. She wasn't as carefree as the girl playing in the room, she couldn't forget what was happening to her best friend back in the other storyverse. Oh who was she kidding, she couldn't hide it in this universe when it was so open in the other.

She bloody loved that idiot, and god she was almost ready to kill him herself purely for worrying her so much right now. Making her leave like that only scared her more about how bad he was doing, she knew he was strong and could take on this 'Vion' guy on easily, but he said he wasn't alright, how could she not worry?

Yeah, there was more to her than she had known even herself until during her time in AL, there was a whole part of her past between when she escaped the base and when she was found by the mystery person that she hadn't remembered. Nathen, back in AL, had restored her memories of her time travelling with him and a good friend called Holly **(A/N: This only applies to the SR and AL universe, this will not be the DtF ending) **around her home region, where she had ended up losing her memories to the same people who gave her the implant. She also remembered her feelings, which didn't help how worried she was about Nathen in the battle he was in. It could be his end.

"God if he dies I am going to tear that Vion to shreds myself… And there is no way I am letting them make that little girl an agent… I'll take her somewhere, keep her here, safe… I hope it doesn't come to that though… too many people would grieve if they found he was dead…" Gem sighed, curling up into a ball, "Man… maybe I shouldn't've asked about… his feelings… sure I didn't know he was going to get into such a fight, but… it makes it harder… especially now it's also got me thinking about how things could've been on top of all I already have to worry about… Plus its gonna make it hard for me not to just go up and bloody well kiss him again if I see him alive when I get back…" She mentally slapped herself, she needed to make sure she didn't do that, the cheerleaders (she scoffed at this) would not be happy with her if she did that, and she'd rather not die because of a few jealous cheer girls, plus who knows when she would see him if he survived? He'd play it safe, not ask her to come back until he was sure May wouldn't be in too much danger, and who knows when that would be? He could easily be back around the main group when she returned, in which case it would be a necessity to hold back on the kiss thing.

Another mental slap.

"Hey Gemmy! Come play with me!"

Gem smiled, maybe it would be fun to play with her, she always was childish and she could get her mind of Nathen's predicament.

"Yeah, alrighty, I'm coming!" She smiled, standing up.

~X~X~X~

"I told you it wouldn't work!" Scarlet said, slapping Auberon around the back of the head. Auberon shrugged, sweatdropped, trying to stop the embarrassed blush.

"It works in the movies…"

If you haven't guessed, they tried the whole 'Stand on the other's shoulders with a large coat' trick… safe to say, it did not work, and they got kicked out within moment. Everyone got a good laugh out of it though.

"The movies are never right though! Man… you could've got us thrown in jail!" Scarlet sighed, sitting down on the chair in the PC lobby. Auberon sweatdropped again.

"God it was funny though." Kira laughed. Auberon glared, "Wha? It was!" A little argument soon began between the two.

"Thanks again, Hotaru," Crystal thanked the ex-commander, moving her arm, "It's good to be able to use it again."

"No need, I'm used to healing wounds like that. It was easy-peasy." Hotaru said with a smile, waving a dismissive hand.

"It wasn't so 'easy-peasy' the first time I saw you try and heal a broken arm! Didn't you make it worse?" Lucy laughed. Hotaru blushed.

"That was my first heal! I couldn't help it!" Hotaru said, looking at her lap shyly. Lucy patted her shoulder, and laughed.

"Don't worry, I did much worse on my first. I nearly tore the guy's arm off. Wouldn't've minded doing it, but ya know." Lucy said with a grin. Hotaru shook her head with a laugh.

"Think I'll win my battle tomorrow, Nevee?" TJ asked, sitting with Nevee, playing with Eve and his Snowrunt.

"Of course you will!" Nevee beamed, giggling. TJ grinned.

"Jas…" Indigo whispered. They were sat on a separate sofa set to the others, but it was better to be safe than sorry, "What happened earlier…"

"I'm sorry, I really am, Indigo… it just came over me…"

"I know, it was partly my fault for climbing when I'm still not all that strong." Indigo said, patting his arm, "I'm okay too, okay? I've not changed, since you mustn't have Venom, I've not gone into shock, I'm fine."

"But…"

"No buts."

"You were scared of me."

Indigo sighed, hugging him carefully, "I was scared of the _vampire _you, and you're not him, not yet. I still trust you, you won't do it again, I know you. Don't worry."

"You looked… like you did when I saw Dax… you know…" Jaspa said, looking at his lap. Indigo hugged him again.

"Stop fretting! You're nothing like him, okay?-! Don't ever, ever think that! I… you're one of the best friends ever, the only one I can trust with my secret, so please, stop it."

"Thank you…" Jaspa said shyly, trying to hide his blush. Indigo smiled.

~X~X~X

**Kim: Another note to read out? Okay... *reading* Well, that was mostly a filler chapter before the gym battles, apart from the bit with Indi and Jas, and the bit linking to Auracian Legacy again… wait, *not reading* Nathen's in trouble back there? Damn, I miss everything…**

**Me: GET ME OUT OF HERE FOR GOD'S SAKE!**

**LF: We're trying! Kim, can't you use Shadow now?**

**Alex: We don't want Blaze too hurt though!**

**Me: FOR GOD'S SAKE HURRRRY!**

**Kim: *sweatdrop* don't think this is ending any time soon… Um… read and review?**


	55. Ep 54: Gym Battles

**Me: HELP FOR GOD ALMIGHTY'S SAKE!**

**Alex: Come on Blaze, let her go! It's been years! Give up the grudge!**

**Me: Y-Yeah! L-Listen to your trainer! Come ON!**

**Blaze: (Hmph…)**

**Me: *Sweatdrop* I don't think I'm helping… **

**LF: You just noticed? *sweatdrop***

**Me: *pout* Shuddup… **

**Kim: Honestly, you people have to be twice as insane as the ones back in Nathen's story…**

**Alex: I'm pretty sure we're more than twice that, Kim *sweatdrop***

**Episode 54- Gym Battles (Oh Joy…)**

**"Last chapter, our authoress disappears and then comes back with a little visitor from a story this one appears to be greatly linked with recently, a little child called May, the sister of a previous visitor to this story. Our old friends Kirar-… Kira and Lance reappeared, and now everyone is ready to compete for their gym badges!"**

"How come he hasn't called us back yet…" Gem muttered to herself as she made sure the six year old girl was properly awake and ready to go to the gym battles with everyone else, "Surely the battle must be over by now… and… he promised he'd live… so… he…" She sighed, this was pathetic, she had to stop worrying, she couldn't show how concerned she was or _no_ _doubt_ there would be teasing from Auberon and/or Scarlet. Something she did not want. She'd had enough of people playing on her feelings for the boy for any reasons at all, for fun or not, "He's probably just being overcautious, that's all, that'd be like him…"

"You okay Gemmy?"

May's voice snapped her from her mumblings, and she put on a big smile, not wanting the young girl to worry too much about her brother's safety, hoping to keep her mind away from that subject and cheerful until they were called back and she could see her brother.

"Y-Yeah, of course I am May, just thinking about story plots," She lied. Gem couldn't help but feel bad for the tiny lie, the girl did deserve to know that they should've been called back, at least Gem was pretty sure they should've, by now, but she couldn't make her fret.

"Okay!" May said in a cheerful tone, "We're going to watch those people battle now aren't we?"

"Yep, we are. Those people are my friends by the way, most of them only four years older than you," Gem said, standing up straight, "And man, I am not looking forward to the battles, I have to think these things up!" Gem smiled at the girl and took her hand to lead her to the group, "Come on, let's go."

"Okay!"

Gem smiled and lead her out of the room, taking her down to the main lobby where everyone had gathered, ready to leave for the third gym **(random fact: it has taken over a year for me to write enough to reach the third gym… wanna bet it'll be another year 'til the sixth since I'll have even less time to write next year?)**. She almost immediately heard the bickering down in the lobby, and sweatdropped.

"Oh boy…"

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"But IIIIII wanna battle fiiiiiirst!" Auberon whined, pouting and folding his arms, sitting on the couch in the lobby with Scarlet sitting on the back of it behind him, fiddling with his ear tips. He batted her hands away and hid a blush, pouting at her and muttering something like 'stop, that hurts!'.

"We should let the temporaries battle first to be fair, Auberon, so they have more of a choice to if they want to leave quicker than we do," Indigo said, sitting on the arm of the chair Jaspa was on.

"That's sooooooo not fair!" Auberon pouted. Scarlet sweatdropped.

"Life isn't fair," She said.

"Shuddup, I didn't ask you!" Auberon said, glowering at her. Scarlet stuck her tongue out, flicking his ear. Auberon struggled more to hide his blush, and slapped at the hand, "Hey! I told you that hurts!"

"This is ridiculous…" Nathen said, sighing a bit before giving a light chuckle.

"You can say that again, but I'm pretty sure by now that ridiculous is these guys through and through," TJ said, laughing.

"I still wanna fight first!"

"Guys, stop it!"

Everyone turned as Gem walked down the stairs with May beside her, rolling her eyes with a sigh at them. Her antics could only keep her cheery to a certain extent in her current mood before they became annoying.

"Look, I won't be writing all of your battles anyway, I will likely only be writing the battles of Kira, TJ, Nathen or Kate, and if Indigo and you are lucky, Auberon, then I might write the end or beginning of yours," Gem said, "okay?"

"Okay…" Auberon whined.

"Ah, and sorry to the three I said for definite if I don't do the whole of yours either, but you all know writing battles isn't for me."

"It's fine, as long as we get our battles," Nathen said, standing up from a chair.

"I hope I'll win the first time around this time," Indigo said, "I've trained more this time, and I have new Pokémon."

"I'm gonna win easy! I have a Psychic type now, so I have one Pokémon with an advantage!" Auberon said.

"You have to remember she's still a new Pokémon though, Auberon, she's young as well. She may not be ready to battle yet," Gem pointed out.

"I suppose you're right there…" Auberon said, "I'll see if Guardian wants to fight when it comes to it then."

"Come on, let's get going now, Jayda should be in today, so we can get the battles done asap! Come on people!" Gem said, starting to walk out, May following behind her, holding her hand still. The others all stood one by one, and started to go. Scarlet ran past Auberon and tweaked his ear again, making Auberon run after her, and in turn Nevee decide to just join in for the fun of the running and dragging TJ with her. Everyone else sweatdropped, though Kira did cheer them on at one point.

~X~X~X~

"So you're my next challengers? Thought the Viridian leader said she'd come here with you," A woman, about twenty years of age, said as the group walked into the Veilstone Gym. Her hair is a gingerish brown colour, tied back into a ponytail spare a bit that fell into her face, making her brush it back in annoyance. She dressed in baggy brown tracky bottoms, and a black tank top with a trace of brown appearing underneath it every now and again, and a piece of string holding a golden square shaped pendant around her neck. She appeared to have a black eye.

"I am here, Jayda," Gem said, stepping forward, "I know I'm not exactly the same as normal right now, but I'm not that different looking in this form. I had a bit of a situation and didn't change form after it."

"Ah, there you are. Sorry, it wasn't that I couldn't recognise you, but that I couldn't see you behind the teen ones in that group," Jayda said, giving a smirk. Gem rolled her eyes.

"If there wasn't a six year old in here that I'm supposed to be keeping away from physical fighting, I'd beat the crap out of you right now," She said, giving a small glare. Jayda chuckled.

"Well, anyway, who's the challengers this time?" The well built woman asked, looking at the large group, "Not the little kid there, obviously."

"Hi," May smiled. Jayda waved.

"Your challengers are the two sixteen year olds there, Kate and Nathen, the guy with the brown hair by the crazy girl, TJ, the elfy boy and the pale blonde, Auberon and Indigo, and the other blonde girl, Kirara," Gem said, gesturing at each one.

"It's KIRA!" Kira pouted, stamping a foot. Gem ignored it.

"That's a rather big batch. Lucky that I have enough max revives to go for a couple of battles. What're they going to be? One Pokémon each, or two Pokémon each?" Jade asked, grabbing her three Poké Balls.

"I'd say… two each. Even though some of them are newer trainers than the others, it's fairer that way," Gem said after a moment, "That okay with all of you?"

"Fine by me."

"Yeah, that's okay."

"Just as easy!"

"Big headed idiot… Yeah, it's okay by me."

"I'm okay with it."

"Yep, that's just fine!"

"Alrighty then, let's get these battles started. TJ, you haven't done much, you can go first," The authoress said, then leading May to the side of the battle field to sit down, letting her sit on her lap. Nevee pouted that TJ had to leave her side, but in an instant she was at the side of the room with one of her cheerleading pom-poms out, giggling. Scarlet sweatdropped and went to sit down too, Auberon sitting by her and keeping an eye on her hands so that she wouldn't mess with his ear tips again. Kira pouted that she didn't get to go first, and sat down with Lance, who was sweatdropping at his twin, likely wondering how they were related. Nathen looked deep in thought (again) as he sat down with Kate and Crystal, likely thinking about the battle and hoping to be able to pick stuff up from watching TJ's battle, about Jayda's strategy. Kate sat close to his side, with Crystal sitting the opposite side of her brother and focusing on the battle field.

TJ walked to his side of the field, and grabbed one of his Poké Balls, waiting for Jayda to reach her spot and grab one of her own.

"Kick, Punch, Spin! Hitmonchan, come and beat the crap out of these idiots!" Jayda called. TJ sweatdropped.

"Pleasant Pokémon Call… Breloom, come on out!" The quirky boy called. Both fighting types appeared on the field, and both were immediately in a battle stance, Hitmonchan with his boxing gloved fists to his chest, ready to deliver speedy punches, and Breloom ready to charge with its own moves.

"This battle is between TJ Young, and Jayda the Gym Leader! There are no substitutions, and both sides will use two Pokémon! Both sides ready?" MRf. said, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"Wah! Holy crap where did she come from?-!" Kira said, jumping up about a foot from her seat on the floor.

"I'm ready as ever!" Jayda said, looking almost ready to fight the battle out herself.

"So am I!" TJ said with a determined grin, he almost had a similar look on his face to the gym leader too.

"…Well, looks like he might be another one who goes more serious in battle," Gem said.

"Yay TJ!" Nevee giggled. May looked at the cheerful girl and giggled too. Nevee smiled at her, holding her hand up. The younger beamed and high fived the hand, "I like her!" Nevee giggled more. Gem smiled.

"**Begin**!"

"Start with a Bullet Punch!" Jayda ordered as soon as the word had left the mysterious referee's lips, thrusting one of her own arm forward in a punch. Hitmonchan nodded quickly and charged his power, taking a few strong steps toward Breloom and raising his arms more to attack.

"Wait for him to get close!" TJ ordered back, waiting as the taller fighting type came at his Pokémon, now firing off a series of punches at the speed of bullets being fired from a gun. Breloom braced itself in case any of the Bullet Punches hit, and waited. As soon as Hitmonchan was close enough for a dead on hit, TJ ordered again, "Use Leech Seed!"

The Mushroom Pokémon fired off a small seed that flew through the punching fists at exactly the right moment to plant itself in the Pokémon's torso, and wrap constricting, energy draining vines around the whole of the Punching Pokémon. TJ gave a small cheer to himself when he got the hit.

"Darn it… Hitmonchan, Mach Punch!" Jade ordered quickly in retaliation. Hitmonchan thrust out an arm at a great speed and threw the punch ordered, slamming into the grass type and knocking it back, only for the exact same thing to happen to the Hitmon punching Pokémon a second later, throwing him to Jayda's side of the field.

"And that is the beauty of backing up with counter," TJ said as his Pokémon stood up.

"Go in with Ice Punch!" Jayda barked back, thrusting another of her own punches forward, getting into the battle easily as she always did.

On the sidelines, Auberon was focusing heavily on Jayda's side of the battle, watching for her strategies, preferences and anything else that could help him in his own battle against her. He picked up that she, much like Maylene used to, would do a similar movement to what her Pokémon's next move entailed, but gathered that was more of a habit and confidence thing than it was part of her strategy. After that, he took notice of all of the moves she had used so far, two of them had been speed based moves that could deliver a hard hit quickly, and the Ice Punch was following a similar trend, just replacing the speed with a type advantage against the Pokémon she was facing.

Got it.

"Try and block it with a Force Palm!" TJ retorted.

Both Pokémon charged the force needed for their attack. Ice quickly froze around the boxing gloves of Hitmonchan, and the shock built up in the palm of Breloom, both ready to attack or block the other. Hitmonchan made the first move, charging forward and thrusting out the arm, quickly met by the Force Palm attack. But Hitmonchan had the momentum, and the force of the charge put behind the punch threw the Force Palm back at the double typed Pokémon, and hitting it hard in the head with the Ice Punch at the same time.

"Whoa… Gym Battles sure get… um… intense, that's the word!" May said from Gem's lap, watching eagerly, "It's hard to keep up with who's gonna win it!"

"That's true," Gem agreed.

"That's one of the fun things about watching the battles," Lance said, peering around the others, "It keeps you on your toes, you can't relax without missing something. Unless, of course, the battlers are really rubbish and boring."

"Or if the opponents are using Metapod!" Scarlet said, giggling, "Grandpa told me about that happening once, he didn't say how he saw it though, which probably means he was one of the battlers using Metapod."

"…That goes under what I just said, but man that's crazy…" Lance said with a sweatdrop.

"I can imagine that! Hee-hee, must've been boring that's for sure!" Crystal piped in.

On the battlefield, Breloom had just pushed up to its feet again, glaring over at the other fighting type Pokémon, but giving a light smirk when red light flashed around the vines and some of Hitmonchan's health was zapped and given to Breloom. Both Pokémon were already tired from the hard hits being dealt and taken, but TJ knew that he had the upper hand as long as that Leech Seed stayed in place.

"Hitmonchan, put all the power you can into a Fire Punch!" Jayda called.

"Breloom, you do the same with a Sky Uppercut! Give it everything you've got!" TJ called too.

Both fighting Pokémon ran across the field at their opponent. Hitmonchan's fist began to light on fire, whilst Breloom's fists began to glow light blue, building up power, ready to drive it toward the sky and hit the taller Pokémon. Both jumped to use their attacks at the same time.

Breloom was thrust hard back to the ground only a foot or two in front of its trainer, groaning in pain and its chest covered in burns. Hitmonchan was tossed hard into the ceiling by the uppercut, then fell back hard to the floor, groaning and trying to push up to his feet. Then, his normally strong arms gave out, him falling hard against the ground again, this time unconscious.

"Hitmonchan is unable to battle! The winner of this round is TJ!" MRf. said, holding up the appropriate flag. TJ gave a silent cheer, and gave a thumbs up to his Breloom, who gave a tired smile back.

"Good battle there, and it was only the first round… If I'm right, you've done martial arts yourself?" Jayda said, returning her Pokémon and passing it to someone to heal, "I can always tell."

"Yeah, I've done Karate in my time," TJ said, helping his Breloom up ready for the next battle as he wasn't allowed to switch out.

"You two ready for the next round?" MRf. asked.

"Yeah, we're ready," Jayda replied, nodding and grabbing her next Poké Balls, "Kick, Punch, Spin! Hitmonlee come and beat the crap out of these idiots!"

"So far it's not going like your call," TJ said. Jayda rolled her eyes.

"This round is between Hitmonlee and Breloom! Go!" MRf. announced.

"Hitmonlee, go straight in with Rolling Kick!" Jayda said, spinning 180° and kicking out with one of her legs.

_If I can get a Leech Seed in before that hits, then it gives my next Pokémon even more of a chance… that's all I really need to do this battle, there's no way that Breloom can take more than one hit…_ TJ thought, watching as Hitmonlee jumped in the air and started the spin that would lead to the kick.

"Breloom, seed him!"

It took Jayda a minute to realise what he meant, and cursed realising it was too late to retreat the attack. Hitmonlee's powerful kick hit Breloom in the gut just as the seed flew out and buried itself in the Pokémon's upper arm, releasing the vines again. Breloom fell to the ground unconscious, but that was expected. The hit that TJ needed was in.

"Breloom is unable to battle! This round goes to Hitmonlee!"

"Return, well done Breloom," TJ praised as he returned his Pokémon and clipped the ball back to his belt, grabbing one of the others, "Swellow, now you're up!"

The flying type appeared out of the second Poké Ball, and hovered just above the height of TJ's head, looking at its opponent.

"Begin!"

"Start this off with an Extreme Speed and Peck combination!" TJ called. Swellow nodded at its trainer, and flying up high in the air, as high as the room would let him, he used what he was told to. He was almost invisible as soon as Extreme speed began working.

"Watch closely then use Jump Kick!"

Hitmonlee kept his eyes out for any sign of the bird and its oncoming flying attack, ready to attack as soon as he saw it. He suddenly caught a flash of movement, and jumping in the air he thrust out a hard kick to the right spot, colliding with the beak of the Pokémon, making him visible again. Both Pokémon took damage, and Swellow was thrown through the air toward its trainer though he quickly steadied itself and began to hover again. Hitmonlee landed on the floor with ease, ready to attack again when ordered. He winced as Leech Seed drained away more health from him, but it wasn't enough to knock him off his feet yet.

"Aerial Ace!"

"Hi Jump Kick!"

Hitmonlee moved for the attack first and aimed to kick out with a knee kick, but the Swallow Pokémon flew out of the way to start its own attack, making the attack backfire and the Kicking Pokémon end up kicking itself in the head.

Gem suppressed giggles on the sidelines.

"What's so funny?" Auberon asked, snapping out of his analysis hearing her.

"Nothing really, just remembering how once I managed to kick myself in the head when trying to do a Rising Kick," Gem giggled, "Very similar to what he just did, trying to hit something I couldn't, fell backward and hit myself in the head."

"Have I ever told you how weird you are?" Scarlet said, giving her a weird look.

"Yep, plenty of times, and it has no effect, no matter how many times you say it," Gem grinned. May giggled on her lap. Gem smiled more, glad the girl's mind was off her brother's problem for now.

"When TJ's battle is over, wanna come play with us?" Nevee smiled, giggling.

"Can I Gemmy?" May asked.

"Of course, May," Gem said.

"And the battle is over! Hitmonlee is unable to continue, so Swellow take the victory! The winner of this battle is the challenger TJ!" MRf. was then heard saying, signalling the end of the first battle. TJ cheered properly now, and thanking his Pokémon he returned it. Jayda returned her Hitmon Pokémon, and passed it to be healed again.

"Well done kiddo, here, take this," She threw over the Veilstone badge to him, which he quickly caught, "Good battle."

"Thanks, same to you," TJ said with a nod, before walking off to Nevee.

"Well done TJ!" She beamed, hugging him. TJ gave a light blush but hugged too, smiling, "Play now?"

He laughed, "Sure, play now."

"May's coming, is that okay?" The cheerful girl asked, making TJ chuckle more and grin,

"Sure, that's fine. Come on, kiddo," TJ said, holding a hand for her. May took it, and grabbed one of Nevee's too, leaving the gym with them to go play.

Gem let her smile falter a bit now May was gone, but so that no one would question her, she kept up her brave face.

"Alright, who's up next?" Jayda asked, taking back her healed Pokémon.

~X~X~X~

**_Kira's Battle_**

Kira had first battled against the same Hitmonchan that TJ had first faced, and had used her starter, Fire the Charmeleon, to battle him. She had dealt heavy damage against the Punching Pokémon with the fire attacks and sharp claws, but still he had been defeated. It took her second Pokémon, Thunder the Jolteon, to defeat the Hitmonchan, and was now busy trying to beat the previously unrevealed Hitmontop with her electric type Eeveelution.

"Thundershock, Thunder! Slow her down so she can't spin!" She ordered as Hitmontop tried to get at the fox-like Pokémon with a rapid spin, which would surely be followed by Triple Kick.

The Jolteon released the attack quickly, hitting the Handstand Pokémon dead on, making sparks appear around it.

"Rapid Spin again!" Jayda called, hoping the paralysis effect hadn't come into play. Hitmontop tried to move itself in a way it could throw itself onto its spinning top head and begin her attack, but the electricity sparked more and she found herself unable to move.

"Yes! It worked! Now, use Thunderbolt full power!" Kira said, hands up in fists, elbows bent up. Thunder sparked, and then fired of a heavily powered bolt of electricity at the spinning top like Pokémon, making it cry out, "Finish with Double Kick!"

Using two of its paws Thunder thrust powerful kicks at the paralyzed Hitmontop, and finished the battle, knocking the fighting type out.

"Hitmontop is unable to battle, Thunder wins! The battle goes to Kira!" MRf. called out, raising the appropriate flag again. Kira jumped in the air and cheered, hugging her Pokémon afterwards, sweatdropping as the static left on Thunder from the last attack made her hair all stand on end.

"Another winner… Man, no offence to you all but I hope I beat at least one of you!" Jayda said in a slightly whining tone, obviously not very happy about losing twice in a row, "Here, your badge."

Kira caught the badge as it was thrown, and thanked the leader before returning her Pokémon and running back to sit by her brother, and frantically trying to calm her hair back down.

~X~X~X~

**_Indigo's Battle_**

Indigo had gone up against the Pokémon unused in the last battle, Hitmonlee, first, using her Aquagelic and her Psychic attack, along with her water moves, to beat the Pokémon with surprising ease, helped along by a new move that no one there but Gem could explain. Aquagelic had sent her Halo to attack the fighting type, a lot like a Frisbee or boomerang, with a beam of light behind it. Gem explained it was a 'Light' type move from Monoko, called 'Halo Disc'. No one felt the need to question the new region name or how Gem knew, they all knew she had knowledge about the whole Pokémon world anyway.

Now, she was up against the Punching Pokémon, Hitmonchan. Mudkip was up now, with Vapor watching from Indigo's shoulder, so she could see that Pokémon battles weren't all going to be bad like they must have been with the person she used to belong to. Still, the Pokémon hid its face in her trainer's neck.

"Mudkip, use Water Gun!"

"Thunder Punch!" Retaliated the Gym Leader, going for a hard hit and a super effective one again. She knew the Mudkip had to still be relatively low level, inexperienced, and a couple of good hits could knock her out no problem, especially if it was an Electric Charged punch that would cause double damage. Muddy wasn't having any of it though, she dodged the attack easily with her small body and fires the water gun right at Hitmonchan's head, covering the whole of its torso and arms.

The electricity on its fists backfired now, and sent a shock through the Pokémon's body, dealing damage.

"Ice Beam!" Indigo said. The ice type attack was fired, about to freeze the Fighting type below the small Mudkip, but a fist already covered in ice blocked it, then threw Mudkip to the ground in front of Indigo, "M-Mudkip?-! You okay?-!" Muddy tried to push back up to her feet, but it wasn't working. It looked like this battle might be over.

"Mudkip is unable to b-…" MRf. started, before suddenly Muddy began to glow.

"Oh my Arceus… she's…"

"Another one evolving…" Gem said, leaning back on her hands, "About time I guess…"

When it stopped, Muddy was on two legs, now a Marshtomp. With a smirk and renewed power, she jumped in the air and shot mud at Hitmonchan, Mud Shot.

"Hell yes! Alright, finish this now! Ice Beam and Mud Shot!" Indigo cheered, ordering her next, hopefully last, attack in this battle. And, sure enough, the double hit threw Hitmonchan to the ground, unconscious, "Yes! Win!"

Muddy turned back over to where Jaspa was sat, and where he had just let out Ivysaur to see the evolved Marshtomp, and walked over to the grass type, slightly shy.

"(Hi… Heh, I evolved too… not as cute now I guess…)" Marshtomp said, poking her front legs together. Ivysaur smiled.

"(You're still cute…)" He said shyly, blushing.

_Aw… only a matter of time before their trainers are like that…_ Gem thought with a giggle.

~X~X~X~

**_Nevee, TJ, May…_**

"You two are fun!" May giggled, on TJ's shoulders as he pretended to be an aeroplane. Nevee watched with a giggle, joining in every now and again as a passing bird Pokémon or something. But she could feel something about the girl that wasn't entirely happy, she could somehow feel that she was worried about something, so quietly she asked TJ to stop, letting May down.

"Wanna get some cookies and sit down for a bit?" Nevee asked in her usual cheerful tone. May nodded with a smile, and took Nevee's hand again. They went and bought some cookies from the shop, and then all three sat down on a bench, May munching down on some of the cookies from the packet.

"It's fun here, though I can't wait to go back," May said as she bit into another cookie, swinging her legs.

"Is that what's troubling you?" Nevee said, suddenly using that slightly melodic serious voice she had. TJ looked at her a little stunned, not expecting such a tone from the quirky girl.

"Huh? Nothing's troubling me…" May lied, looking at her lap.

"I can tell, May, trust me… I can just… feel it, okay? Trust me. What's troubling you? Something about why you're here?" Nevee asked softly. May bit her lip, then nodded.

"I'm worried about my brother… he and some scary man were fighting, and I think big brother Nathen got hurt… but Gemmy told me we had to go away from there, so I don't know how he is… Gemmy said he's strong enough to be okay, but…" May said, twiddling her thumbs shyly. Nevee gave the girl a hug, seeming to seep a calming aura.

"I'm sure your big brother will be okay… if Gem said he's strong, then he must be, and if she said he'd be okay, it's the same thing. I know Gem well enough to know she would not leave someone, even at someone really close to her's wishes, who was in so much trouble they couldn't get out of it on their own, okay?" She said calmingly, looking at her. May looked back, then nodded with a small smile.

"Thank you, Nevee…"

"No problem, May!" Nevee said, back in her cheerful tone. TJ smiled at the scene, still slightly stunned at how calm and reassuring and… serious, Nevee could be when she wanted to. She looked up, and smiled too, a light blush on her cheeks.

~X~X~X~

**_Nathen's Battle_**

Nathen had his battle easy to be honest, he had an experienced flying type at his disposal, and even though he decided not to use Pidgeot, his Lucario easily did the job and beat Hitmontop without breaking a sweat, using some aura techniques they all just put down (spare those who knew of Nathen's aura) to its species, and it maybe being a skilled user of the gifts it species could obtain. And to make his battle even easier, to go against his final opponent, Hitmonlee, he had Gardevoir who had a type advantage. Jayda was an experienced trainer, even against those with an advantage such as this, but there was only so many super effective attacks a Pokémon could take.

"Gardevoir, Teleport then use Psyshock!" Nathen ordered his white shiny Embrace Pokémon, her teleporting away just as Hitmonlee was about to deliver a jump kick right to her face. Hitmonlee landed easily on the floor, and quickly looked around for any sign of where Gardevoir would reappear and attack. Suddenly, a wave of pure psychic energy hit the fighting type Pokémon straight on from above, and everyone looked up to see Gardevoir levitating herself with her own psychic abilities.

"Dammit… Mind Reader then Hi Jump Kick!" Jayda ordered, jumping and giving a sharp kick. Auberon's eyes widened a bit at the side, this was the first time she used a move that wasn't based purely on dealing damaged, but on increasing her chances of a hit or making a stat higher.

Hitmonlee seemed to focus deeply for a moment, before jumping high in the air and going at Gardevoir with the kick. Nathen didn't bother to order a dodge, knowing Mind Reader made sure it was going to hit, but right after Gardevoir was attacked, he ordered his counter.

"Magical Leaf then confusion," He said.

Gardevoir was standing straight again immediately, flying of a flurry of strangely colour coated leaves at the Kicking Pokémon and throwing him away, back a couple of metres, though he did land on his feet. The same could not be said for long though, as he was suddenly thrown off his feet and into the wall by a Confusion attack. His eyes were replaced by swirls, signalling he was unconscious.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle, the victor is Gardevoir! The winner of the battle is Nathen," MRf. announced. Jayda groaned as she threw the badge.

"This is so not my best day," She sighed, returning her Pokémon to be healed again, "How many left?"

"Two," Gem replied, "Kate and Auberon."

~X~X~X~

**_Auberon's Battle_**

Auberon could almost feel that he wouldn't be doing so well in this battle, but his confidence in his ability to analyse people's strategies and Pokémon's weak spots pushed him to stay determined. Even if he couldn't get Guardian to fight, he was confident his starter and Carnivine could manage now that he had a good read on Jayda's battle preferences and strategy. He was actually grateful he hadn't gone first now, watching so many battles had made this easy for him, even if Jayda threw in a random non-attack move, he could win this, he was sure.

"Hitmontop, come back out!" Jayda called, throwing her Poké Ball again. Hitmontop still somehow looked just as ready for battle despite the reuse of her and her teammates.

"One second!" Auberon called across, taking out Guardian's ball, crouching as he let her out, looking her in the face, "Hey, Guardian."

"_Hello Master Auberon!_" She said with a smile, using her telepathy. Auberon smiled a bit too, "_What do you want?_"

"I was wondering… if you'd battle for me. In my Gym Battle now? I understand if you don't want to yet, I won't force you," He said, scratching the back of her neck. The small Ralts considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"_I'll battle! I trust you, you won't make me battle longer than I can! I'll fight!_" She said with big smile, hugging Auberon around the neck.

"Thanks, Guardian," Auberon replied, scratching the back of her neck again, chuckling, "Just gotta check your moves," He pulled out his Pokédex, and to his surprise he found that she had moves he was pretty sure she couldn't learn until after evolution levels or by TM. Whilst this could only work to his advantage, he was confused, and also a little worried. Could this small Pokémon handle those moves? Was it that man who made her have them? Why? "Um… interesting move set there…"

"_He made sure we had stronger moves in case we had to be used earlier than planned…_" Guardian explained, whilst still being vague.

Auberon's confusion only grew, but guessing his newest Pokémon wouldn't want to talk about it, he just petted her then stood up.

"Alright, I won't ask more. Come on, I won't push you to use the moves above your level too much, okay?" He said. Guardian nodded and with a last big smile, she jumped out to the battle field, "Alright, we're ready Ref!"

"Hitmontop vs. Guardian the Ralts! Begin!" MRf. called.

"Rapid Spin!" Started Jayda, twirling once. Hitmontop flipped herself over onto her head, starting to spin around at super fast speed, becoming just a blur of the colours the Pokémon was made up of. It began to move toward the Ralts.

"Don't let her get too many hits on you! Use Confusion to start!" Auberon instructed. The Ralts' eyes glowed under the green dome that covered them, the same glow beginning to surround the rapidly turning Pokémon coming at her with its attack. It took a few seconds, but right as Hitmonchan was going to hit Guardian, Confusion stopped the spinning and pushed her back, throwing the Rapid Spin toward the other half of the field.

"Get in close!" Jayda ordered, "Get right under her feet!"

Auberon thought through all of the previously used attacks by the Handstand Pokémon, and quickly narrowed down what was going to happen next, ordering Guardian to keep on her toes and be prepared to jump or attack. Hitmontop dashed at the Feeling Pokémon and then lashed out one leg with a Low Sweep. Guardian was about to dodge, but her slightly clumsy legs tripped over themselves and allowed her to be hit by the sweep, throwing her into one of the support beams for the martial arts based gym building. She yelped loudly in pain, small frame easily hurt by such a collision.

"Guardian!" Auberon exclaimed, gritting his teeth, "Dammit… maybe she's not ready to fight yet… Um… Teleport, Guardian!"

The Psychic Type managed to teleport itself as another kick as about to slam into her whilst she was down. Hitmontop turned around quickly to look for the Pokémon's next appearance, spotting her flashing back into visibility in the centre of the battlefield, still trying to get to her feet after the hit.

"Quick Attack then Triple Kick!" The martial arts master Gym Leader said, giving three sharp kicks of her own into the air.

Hitmontop had obviously gained the advantage. Guardian was still weak, even after her healing, and Auberon felt guilty for even suggesting she should fight now, even if Guardian herself had said she would battle for him because he wouldn't push her. He could tell now that the small Pokémon couldn't get out of the way of the oncoming attack, and felt his own rash side begin to take over as the handstand Pokémon ran at his newest partner with Quick Attack, ready to kick her again.

Before anyone really knew what was going on, Auberon was on the field crouched in front of the Ralts, with three kicks slamming into his back. Everyone gasped, shocked and a bit scared, though Auberon did not cry out, he still looked like he was bracing himself.

Scarlet caught a sudden flash of green around his back when the three kicks made contact. It was like a shield, something that appeared and disappeared just in time to save him the pain but not long enough to draw the attention of most of the people there unless they were looking for it. Scarlet wasn't sure how she had caught it, but she didn't really care. She was shocked. That had to either be a _Protect_ attack, as in a _Pokémon move_, or at least an aura shield! But when she looked at his aura again, nothing was different to last time she checked after a strange happening. She was bemused.

"Holy Shit Auberon!" Gem gasped, standing up first and ran out.

"Hypocrite…" Auberon grunted a bit as he stopped bracing himself, confused as to why he didn't feel much pain from the kicks.

"Maybe you're not as hurt as you should be then…" Gem said with a sweatdrop, "What the heck was that for?"

"Guardian was about to get hurt again… I wasn't going to let her… I shouldn't've let her battle… I… forfeit this match. I'll try again tomorrow…" Auberon said, standing up and walking off. Scarlet quickly stood to follow him.

Everyone looked on in shock. Auberon forfeited? Now that no one would expect.

Guardian weakly pushed up to her feet, looking sad, feeling she had disappointed her new master. She scurried after Scarlet, latching onto her leg and getting a small smile off her, picking up the Ralts so she could run.

"Um… Kate, you're up…" Gem said, standing in the middle of the field confused for a moment before going back to her seat.

~X~X~X~

**_Auberon and Scarlet…_**

"Auberon? You okay?" Scarlet asked as she sat down beside him. Auberon had leant against the wall of the gym and buried his face in his knees, arms around them. Guardian tugged on his trouser leg, letting a quiet 'Raaalts…' out, looking up at him.

"I'm fine… just feeling guilty… I'll get over it, you know me…" Auberon said, not lifting his face from his knees.

"_You shouldn't feel guilty… I'm the one who put in a really bad battle…_" Guardian said in a quiet tone, sitting on his lap and looking up at him. Auberon looked down, and shook his head.

"I shouldn't've asked you to battle. You're still weak after what that guy must've done to you, a full on battle, even with a type advantage, wasn't a good thing for you at this stage… especially without even training first…" He said, petting her softly again, "And you were doing fine, she just works with really hard hits is all."

"So that's why you were quiet whilst watching, you were doing your battle analysis thing," Scarlet said, looking at him. Auberon looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, she works with strong and quick or effective hits, rarely relying on any kind of defensive move or even on combo hits. Her Pokémon have all be trained in human martial arts as well as their Pokémon moves, which in turn boosts the power of their kicks and punches. She uses her own mimicking kicks and punches as more of a confidence boost, she feels stronger when she knows what her Pokémon is doing. It's also a force of habit," Auberon spouted in a tone that you'd associate with a teacher.

"Whoa, you got all that? I only got how she doesn't use defensive moves, and also how she doesn't use combinations…" Scarlet said. Auberon chuckled.

"You would pick up on the combinations, it's a big part of being a coordinator."

"I guess that's true. Heh, look, you're back to yourself already!"

"Told you," Auberon said with a smile, "Wanna go back in?"

"Sure, come on. I've got some heals in my bag, we can help Guardian heal up a bit," The red eyed girl said as Auberon stood and pulled her up by her hand. Guardian clung to Auberon's shirt for a minute before he picked her up properly and held onto her. With a last grin, they walked back inside, half way through Kate's battle already.

~X~X~X~

**_Kate's Battle_**

Kate already guessed which Pokémon she would be going up against, the kicking and punching Pokémon. Whilst Hitmontop hadn't been dealt much damage last battle, she realised Jade would stick with what she had been doing so far. She just didn't know which one was up first. Hitmonlee was called out first, and Kate decided to start the battle off safe with her Staravia, and after a few strong flying type hits Hitmonlee was quickly going down. He got a few hard kicks into the flying type, and by the time that Hitmonlee went down Staravia was having slight trouble flying with one wing weaker than the other after a kick had collided with it. But the Starling Pokémon was still up for the next battle.

"Hitmonchan, come back out, this is the last battle!" Jayda said, throwing the Poké Ball one last time. Kate double checked with her flying type that he could manage the battle, not that she could change it if it couldn't.

"Staravia vs. Hitmonchan, begin!" MRf. said. Gem snickered a bit beside her.

"You're getting bored of announcing that now, aren't you?" She said, looking up at her. MRf. looked down to her from under her hat, and chuckled.

"Maybe a bit, probably because of how little of the battles you're showing too," She said.

"Shuddup, I can't write them. Be grateful they're not three on three battles, then you'd be extremely bored!" Gem said, pouting.

"Staravia, start off with a Steel Wing!" Kate began, knowing the attack would make the injured wing a little sturdier temporarily. The Starling's wings lit up as they hardened to steel like strength, though not hindering the bird's flight any, before it swooped through the air right at the Punching Pokémon.

"Counter that with Bullet Punch, knock it out of the air!" Jayda said, throwing a series of sharp punches herself. Her Pokémon violently lashed out with the speedy punches as the other steel type move slammed against him, landing a few good hits but not yet succeeding in throwing Staravia out of the air, just leaving it hovering a bit lower.

"Wing Attack!"

"Thunder Punch!"

"Ah man… Quick, pull back! Dodge that!" Kate said, quickly reconsidering the previously called move. Staravia tried to retreat from the attack, but Hitmonchan was quick to the punch (pun intended) and soon had slammed his sparking fist into the flying type, causing a great deal of damage. Staravia let out a shriek before falling to the ground, unable to keep flying now, "Staravia!"

"Finish with Mach Punch," Jayda said. The swift punch was dealt hard to the practically immobilised Staravia, and knocked it out, finishing that round of the battle.

"Staravia can no longer fight, this round goes to Hitmonchan!"

"Return Staravia, you did a good job," Kate said as she returned her flying type, putting the ball away and taking her next one, "Now, Wartortle, you're up!"

Her second form water Pokémon appeared, standing ready to battle immediately, looking determined enough to win this. Hitmonchan looked equally determined, giving a light warning spark around his fists. Wartortle didn't really look that fazed, it just looked a bit more determined in fact.

"Start with a Low Sweep!" the gym leader started, again doing her own mimic of the move.

Hitmonchan obeyed immediately, but the smaller Pokémon jumped over the sweep, and as soon as it was ordered to it used a potent Water Pulse attack right in Hitmonchan's face. Mostly from the suddenness and some from the power, the other Pokémon was thrown to skid a metre away, where it was soon collided with by a Rapidly Spinning shell.

"Mach Punch!"

"Protect then Bite and Water Gun!"

"Switch to Feint!"

"Stop it getting right to you with another Water Pulse!"

Attacks rallied back and forth in this battle quickly, both dealt and received heavy damage from hard hits and the occasional combination from Kate, with only one or two combos from Jayda. Protect quickly proved useless with Feint on the Gym's side, and Withdraw became the best way to shield the Turtle Pokémon from attacks. Jayda kept up her lack of defensive moves, meaning she got a lot of hits on her Pokémon, but the fact more of Wartortle's moves were smaller hits than her Hitmonchan's made up for that. The two Pokémon were pretty much equal throughout.

"I can't tell who's got the upper hand…" Auberon said, leaning back on his hands with Guardian on his lap.

"You're not the only one. This is going really toward a draw isn't it?" Nathen agreed, watching the battle eagerly. Crystal nodded from beside him.

As the battle appeared to get nearer to its close, neither Pokémon looked to be that much more tired than the other, and there was still no clear outcome. Soon, both Pokémon stood opposite each other, and whoever landed the next hit would surely be the winner.

"Thunder Punch!"

"Water Pulse!"

Both attacks were used at the same time, true to the form of the battle, and both collided with the other, shooting the other back to opposite sides of the field. The battlers tensed a bit as the two struggled to get up, wondering which one would go properly down first. It was less than a minute, before Hitmonchan's arms gave out as he fell unconscious, shortly followed by Wartortle.

"Um… both Pokémon are unable to battle, but is appears Hitmonchan went down first! So the winner is Wartortle along with its trainer Kate!" MRf. announced finally, "Phew… the last one."

"Well done Wartortle… take a nice long rest…" Kate said, kneeling by her Pokémon and returning it. She stood up in time to catch the badge that Jayda threw at her, "Thank you!"

"No problem. Man, today was not my day… I really need more than three Pokémon," Jayda said, scratching the back of her head, "I think I need to go let off steam with some Martial Arts… I suppose I'll be see Auberon again tomorrow at least?" She added then, looking to the only challenger who had technically lost against her in the run of battles that had just occurred.

"Probably, depends on if I've trained my other two enough by then, I'm pretty sure in a proper battle I can beat you though," Auberon said, smirking a bit as he stood.

"Really? Well, we'll see then, won't we?" Jayda said, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms with a smirk of her own.

"Oh boy, the next battle is probably gonna be good…" Scarlet sweatdropped, standing up too.

"If I can write it well," Gem pointed out.

"Shut up you're killing it!"

~X~X~X~

**_Nevee, May and TJ…_**

"You two've been real fun, thanks!" May beamed at the two older kids, giggling. Nevee smiled, helping her down from TJ's back.

"No problem, May, it's been fun playing with you!" The insane girl grinned, ruffling her hair, making the younger squirm a bit. TJ laughed.

"Yeah, it has been, it's been a good day," He said with a smile, ruffling both girl's hair. Both squirmed and giggled. TJ's smile grew, "Come on, let's get back to the others."

"Right, they should be done with their battles now! Come on, May, race ya!" Nevee grinned as she took off. May giggled and ran after her, TJ soon following with another chuckle.

They played for a bit longer as they ran through the city to find the rest of their group, playing tag and aeroplane again, May's worry buried deep though it was still there, she was just distracted well now. Nevee kept her 'eye' on that subconsciously, not knowing she was doing it, making sure her worrying didn't rise back up to the surface again.

"Hey, you dropped this," TJ said, stopping half way through a game of tag and picking up a Poké Ball, "One of you anyway. Nevee?"

Nevee stopped and turned, "Nope, not me! I got all mine~!"

"Oo! That's mine! Oops!" May said, grabbing the ball back and holding it, "This is my… Torchic I think!"

"You have Pokémon?" TJ asked. May nodded.

"As of yesterday! My Big Brother…" She trailed off for a moment, and Nevee felt the worry rise a bit, "…He gave them to Gemmy to give to me I think, apparently he has a way to make me be able to hold Pokémon! I have three!" May continued cheerfully as she let all three out, "Torchic, Azurill, and Happiny!"

"Yay! Cute Pokémon!" Nevee cheered, kneeling to pet them. May petted them too, smiling widely.

"Oh finally, some Pokémon to take!" An all too familiar voice said.

"They're baby Pokémon!" Another said.

"So? We need some kind of catch soon or we're done for!"

"Oh no…" Nevee said, looking up to the sky, "Team Rocket…!" She said as she saw the all too familiar balloon with the trio inside. As soon as they saw they had been heard/spotted, the annoying trio turned to them and began their equally annoying motto.

Gareth: Prepare for-…

"You know what? Never mind that today! We have to make some sort of capture or we're doomed!" Gwen barked, "Meowth, get on it!"

"Fine, fine! Arceus above…" Meowth mumbled, grabbing the box with all the buttons on again, pressing the big red button that seemed to activate _everything_ they used. May tensed a bit, not knowing what was going on and wondering what was going to happen. Nevee tensed too, she didn't like where this was going, and the rising tension in the air wasn't helping her mood.

A large rubber hand shot out to grab the three small Pokémon in one go, and May's eyes widened.

"No! You're not taking them!" She went to move to protect them, but suddenly someone else carefully shoved her out of the way and took her place in front of the Pokémon and oncoming hand.

"No way in **_hell_** are you going to **_take away_** some of the hope a kid has!" Nevee suddenly yelled.

Her normally cheerful green eyes had suddenly turned into a sea of deep red anger, her skin went paler than ever and her face seemed to turn more… perfect. Her teeth bared and growing fangs showed themselves subtly, no one except someone who knew what was happening would notice. Her fists clenched and then, the instant after, one hand was held out, a black glow in the centre as suddenly the arm crushed itself, bending back on itself and breaking into pieces, caused by some unseen force.

TJ stood stunned, eyes wide, paling a bit in slight fright. May gasped and covered her mouth, running to hug her Pokémon, returning them quickly before hugging TJ's legs, scared. Team Rocket mark three were equally, if not more, as scared as them, panicking and shrieking to each other. Nevee then held her hand directly at them, and another unseen force popped the balloon and sent them flying through the air, making them scream their familiar catchphrase.

Nevee panted for a moment, lowering her arm, turning to the other two, eyes still red and face still hard, fierce. But in an instant, her eyes closed and she collapsed onto her rear, hands behind her to support herself, looking dazed and still pale, though everything else appeared to have gone back to normal. TJ pried off May, and slightly timidly took a step toward her.

"N… Nevee?" He said, trying to keep his voice calm. He was confused, and still a bit scared, but he wasn't going to judge Nevee so quickly, even after what he just saw. Nevee looked back to her friend, green eyes confused and dizzy, putting a hand to her forehead.

"T-TJ? Why… do you look so…" She seemed to have forgotten again, before she blinked a couple of times, remembering, and her eyes widened, "I… I… wh-what…" _Wh-What's wrong with me…?_

~X~X~X~

**Me: HELP!**

**LF: *whisper* Alex, take your chance now! *pokes Blaze's Poké Ball subtly***

**Alex: Oh right! Good point! *takes the Ball* Return!**

***and finally, before the Infernape can move, he's returned to the ball, and Alex holds it shut***

**Me: Oh thank the heavens above… Thank you all so much! Man…**

**Kim: Can I go back now?**

**Me: yeah, you can leave, go back to bug Nathen instead. **

**Kim: Hey!**

**Me: Anyway… I am actually proud of this chapter, its long for one thing, I've done loads of battles even if only one could be classed as full, and I like the bits with Nevee and stuff! Yay! How was all of it? Especially directing that to TJ's owner, a red penguin, since TJ got the big battle. Sorry if the battles got repetitive with the three Pokémon, but… *shrug* Well, anyway, I'll warn you guys now that I have another holiday running from this Saturday coming to the Saturday after, so no chapters during that time. Plus, only just over a week after that I'm going back to a very important year at school, so I won't be able to write as much on top of coursework and stuff. **

**R&R!**


	56. Ep 55: Rest day, well its meant to be

**Me: Whoop, new chapter, and finally I am no longer being chased! …Which also means I am now alone up here, oh man that is boring… Um… well, anyway, onto the chapter! (Omg, I just noticed something… back in the special chapters with Nathen and Alice joining us, I put 2038, not 2028… I made a mistake in the files for the characters originally, and got the year wrong… *facepalm* Nathen made me notice that in his story, that's the only reason I even noticed…)**

**Episode 55- Rest Day… at least, it's supposed to be**

**"Last Chapter, Gem somehow managed to write battles for all trainers who needed one! Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Ow! Ow! Okay, stop! My god I have not missed that… stop trying to kill me! Geez… *cough* Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, and everyone got their badges except for Auberon… but now, onto a strange happening with Nevee…"**

_Wh-What's wrong with me?_

TJ dropped to his knees and hugged her, "H-Hey… its okay… I don't know what just happened… but… it doesn't matter, okay? C-Come on… we can forget this just happened for now, okay? Let's go to the centre… we… o-okay Nevee?"

Nevee was still in shock from what just happened, she only just had the willpower to wrap her arms around TJ and hide her face in his shoulder, scared of herself and confused. What had just happened? How did she do that? How what… what did… how… why… what _was_ she?

"N-Nevee? Answer me, Neve, answer me…!" TJ said, a little panicked now, his quirky side dropping just as Nevee's had.

"I… I… what…" Was all the normally never silent girl could get out, hugging TJ tighter. TJ rubbed her back a little, trying to calm her, and also himself to an extent. He kept her close to him, but not too close, still subconsciously scared of the girl after what just happened, "I… I… you're scared, a-aren't you?"

"What? No I'm not! I couldn't be scared of you!" TJ insisted, looking at her. Nevee looked him in the eye, before her expression went rather blank. TJ was confused, this confusion only growing when she broke her face into a huge smile again.

"What's the serious look for? Come on! Let's play more!" She said in her usual cheery tone, giggling and hopping up to her feet. TJ got more confused, "Come on TJ!"

"Nevee, I know you change moods fast but that was a new record as far as I know…" The boy said as he stood up, looking concerned.

"What're you talking about? I've not changed moods! Come on, let's play!" She pouted, grabbing his hands, and looking over to May, "Whatcha doing all the way over there? Come on!"

May was just as confused as TJ, but she trusted Nevee, and even if not knowing what had just happened with the quirky ten year old, she grinned and ran over, eager to forget the slightly scary event. TJ stayed confused for a minute more, before deciding it was best not to dwell on it, not wanting to think of Nevee in any different light than he had done since he met her. He put on a huge smile again, and wrapped his arms around Nevee from behind, managing to lift the younger up off the floor and spin her around. May laughed as Nevee giggled and squealed, and soon she was asking for a turn.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

The day after that passed relatively quietly, the gym battles had taken up most of the day, and there was just time to have a meal at the centre and talk for a while before all split to their rooms. Scarlet and Indigo were back sharing a room, Auberon and Jaspa in another, Lance and Kira in one, and the final trio of Nathen, Kate and Crystal. Gem still shared her room with the young May, who had gone up to sleep right after eating her food.

The next day wouldn't be as busy as the one just past, only Auberon would be returning for a battle at some point in the day, and everyone else would surely be busying themselves with something or other. Well, whatever happens, it'll likely turn out insane, it always does with these guys. Just another carefree, crazy day with the insane cast of Scarlet's Road, right?

Somehow its unlikely to be that simple.

~X~X~X~

**_The next day…_**

Indigo stepped out of the room Jaspa was sharing with Auberon. She'd been sat talking with the former, who had just fallen asleep, a little after breakfast. He was taking a much needed nap after the ordeal of the day before last. She closed the door quietly, not sure if his senses were also as alert when he was asleep, and not wanting to wake him. It was the mid morning, so many people were out in the town having battles or just looking around the city, going to the arcade, stuff like that. The Centre was near empty, and Indigo found herself rather enjoying the peace and quiet.

Scarlet was off somewhere with Nathen's trio, and the two ex-TUA agents, but she knew not to ask about where they were going, they never said. Nevee and TJ were off playing games with May and Gem, keeping the young girl occupied, her mind away from her brother. Kira was off trying to train with Auberon before he headed off for his gym battle, and Lance was likely watching the two, trying to help them with any mistakes. Indigo had some time alone, and she was quite happy with that.

The slowly strengthening trainer leant against a wall, and unpeeled the bandages around the bite marks and scratch on her arm, touching the small puncture wounds. Past her shock and fear at the time, she hadn't found it _completely_ unpleasant, there was a strange feeling that accompanied the pain, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She almost felt she wouldn't mind being Jaspa's blood bank if he needed her to be, though she knew he would never, _ever_ let her do that for him. She sighed and put the old bandages in the bin, about to reach for some new ones in her pocket of her skirt, before hearing an all too familiar voice.

"Well well, I didn't expect my little sister to be here already, I thought I would've moved on by the time you got here! What luck!"

Indigo's eyes widened in horror. No, he couldn't be there! He was only at the last contest, there was no way Gem would let him get into the next one too, no way! But... she did say... she hardly had any control down here... and she had been jumping to AL and worrying about May in the past could of days, maybe she didn't notice he was there? Oh god no, no way. Her near twenty chapters without him touching her looked like it was over.

Dax walked into view from the corner she had yet to turn, that sickly smirk on his face, his ever neat and smart clothes just the same as ever. His arms were folded, but one hand then moved to gesture for her to come his way. Indigo gulped silently, tearing up already, but knowing if she didn't go he'd only grab her anyway, and she'd rather not be near the wall for him to use that against her. Slowly, she stepped toward him, trying to stop her tears from spilling over, but letting out a yelp as he grabbed her injured arm and tugged it so he could inspect the wound. She bit hard on her lip.

"Well well... what caused these, little sister?" He said in a cruelly brotherly tone, prodding the two puncture wounds hard, making her bite her lip harder.

"A-A fish Pokémon..." She lied, gritting her teeth a bit. Dax wrapped the hand around the arm and the puncture marks, squeezing with a hard grip, making the girl whimper.

"Don't lie to me, Indigo. You should know I will not tolerate you lying to me. It was that freak of a boyfriend you have, wasn't it?" Dax said, voice starting to grow more venomous and harsh.

"Wh-What're you talking about?-! J-Jaspa couldn't do this, how c-could he and wh-why would he? And he-he's not my boyfriend!" Oh god what was she doing, she can't fight back! He'll hurt her more! But... she couldn't let him find out about Jaspa! Oh god... what if he figured it out already? Jaspa had attacked him with inhuman strength and speed, no human, let alone one of ten years, could have that strength.

"I, told, you, not, to, lie, to, ME!" Dax barked, slapping her hard with each word. Indigo barely stopped herself from crying out, tears starting to fall, "That freak isn't human, is he? Don't even bother lying again, I know what I saw and felt back in Celestic, that brat slammed me through a fucking wall!"

Indigo whimpered and sobbed, forcing herself not to answer, not knowing if silence or lying more would be worse, and opting for the one that would least likely end in her spilling Jaspa's secret. She didn't care if she got hurt now, she wasn't going to break her promise to Jaspa by telling Dax.

"Not speaking, hm? Well then, looks like you need a bit more motivation!" Dax snarled. Indigo choked another round of sobs, shaking in fear.

~X~X~X~

"Alright, Scarlet, you've pretty much mastered everything you can do with the Aura Sphere now, right?" Nathen said, bouncing one of his own spheres in his hand. Scarlet nodded from her position cross legged on the floor, forming a sphere of her full powered aura in her palm, even if it seemed to put a little strain on her, "That's good work, Scarlet. Keep practicing it so it doesn't put any strain on your aura though, okay?"

"Will do! I train at Midnight every day with Hotaru and Lucy, I'm getting closer to perfecting it!" Scarlet said, letting the sphere dissolve.

"She managed to knock both of us off our feet with one sphere the other night, though she needs more work on moving targets," Hotaru said from her position up in a tree, as always.

"I think for now we just need to focus on actual attacks and defensive moves she can use, as well as perfecting that Self-Aura-Heal I heard mentioned," Nathen said, letting his own sphere dissolve into nothing.

"What use are attacks if she can't aim them and get good hits?" Lucy said, leaning against the tree underneath the branch Hotaru was on.

"We have a long time before its likely she'll need to face any big members of TUA, she won't be going into the bases for a long time, and hopefully she won't even need to enter the bases anyway, at least not on her own," The sixteen year old said, "We just need attacks for now, whilst I'm with you guys. You two can help her with her aim and proper combat skills whilst I'm gone, just like you've been doing with her aura spheres."

"I guess that makes sense…" Lucy said, sighing a bit.

"We can't do too many attacks though, Nathen," Hotaru said.

"Yeah, didn't you even say she wasn't old enough to do everything?" Crystal said from the sidelines. Nathen nodded a bit.

"True as that is, I think she can handle rather a lot with her family history," He said.

"He has a point there. Her family bloodline is one of the purest left. It was only disrupted with Giovanni's blood first, then May's, then Peter's. And even then, the aura hasn't been blurred much at all!" Hotaru explained, sitting up on the branch, legs swinging, "There are only three other bloodlines that are so pure still alive here in 2028, and I never got the clearance to find that out. Plus the file is the hardest to hack in the whole Database, except the link file to another organization," She refrained from mentioning the name of this organization so that questions weren't asked about it, she knew Gem would kill her if anything about that team got out.

"So basically, my family has been screwed from the start?" Scarlet said with a deadpanned expression. Everyone there sweatdropped.

"If you're putting it bluntly… then yeah, your family was screwed from the start," Lucy said.

"Don't surprise me. My family's never had much luck with evil teams, its one team after another with us. Team Rocket from the start, Magma and Aqua proved an issue in Hoenn, Bloody Galactic after that, the list goes on! Its madness!" Scarlet said, throwing her arms up in the air, "The only reason the other teams aren't on mine and my friends backs is because something shut them down or crippled 'em!"

Lucy and Hotaru exchanged knowing glances.

"Well, for now how about we focus on a small Aura Pulse?" Nathen said as he started charging his own power.

"You're on!" Scarlet said as she stood up.

Kathryn was sat by Crystal on the sidelines, watching the training eagerly, but feeling as if she was missing the most out of the people there. She just couldn't put her finger on exactly what she didn't know.

~X~X~X~

"S-Stop! S-Stop!"

Indigo let out another scream, quickly muffled by the ground as her half-brother pushed her down harder against it, holding her injured arm behind her back at a painful angel, half laying over her as he pushed her down against the floor.

"Fucking admit it then!"

"Th-There's nothing t-to admit! P-Please, s-stop!" Indigo sobbed, her frail body being strained by his weight and the pain from her arm. Dax forced her harder against the floor, and dug his knee into one of her legs. Indigo bit her lip hard as more pain shot through her.

"You are LYING!" Dax snarled, pushing her harder against the floor. Indigo could already tell her face would be bruised up rather badly, along with her ribs and likely chest. She would have a lot to cover up this time.

"I-I'm not… pl-please stop… th-this h-hurts s-so much… pl-please Dax…" She sobbed, voice breaking.

Dax growled and dug his nails into the puncture wounds on her arms, smothering the cry that followed with the floor again. The wounds dripped a little blood again as they reopened slightly. Indigo sobbed harder, whole body aching badly, not knowing how much her body could take before something broke. Another hard jab to her leg. Another tug on her arm. Another drip of blood. Another shove against the floor.

Then suddenly, it all stopped. The weight on her was lifted and her arm was untwisted as Dax suddenly stood up, wiping the blood off his fingers onto the wall, looking down at her with his hands shoved into his dress pant pockets. He rolled his lime eyes, and nudged her side with his foot, not hard enough to cause much pain.

"You've become totally pathetic. There was an Indigo I once knew who'd fight back and wouldn't keep a daft secret for someone who's such a jerk and smart ass. Ha, not like it makes any difference, I figured it out myself, little bitch. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that freak's problem after he attacked me like that," The bluenette spat, smirking. Indigo weakly turned herself onto her back, leaning against the wall for support even when sitting down. She looked up at her once dear brother with tears still falling, her face already showing signs of the bruising sure to come, "He's a fucking Bloodsucker."

Indigo's eyes widened.

~X~X~X~

"And this time the winner is our Gym Leader, Jayda!" MRf. announced.

Auberon petted his Pokémon, looking to the Gym Leader as she congratulated her own Pokémon after the just concluded battle.

The opponent, a trainer of about eleven, stood up and returned their Johto starter Pokémon, scratching the back of their head, obviously a little embarrassed to have lost. Kirar-… Kira snickered silently beside Auberon, Lance sweatdropping beside her. Auberon had watched a couple of battles that were due before him since the three came from training to the gym, and had set his beliefs of her strategy in stone, certain that he could get past the strategy even if he decided not to use his Ralts, and just used his Carnivine and Grotle.

"Alrighty then, Auberon, that's the last one I have to do before you. You up and ready for this?" Jayda said, putting away the Poké Ball she just used, and taking back the one that had just been healed. Auberon nodded, standing up, his Grotle stepping forward beside him.

"Sure as hell I am! And I am going to win!" He said confidently, fist clenched in front of him. Jayda chuckled.

"I've seen many come in with that attitude, most of them go down flat because they over inflated their ego," The fighting gym leader said, grabbing a Poké Ball and throwing it up and down in her hand without looking at it.

"Well, I'm different. You really shouldn't've let me watch so many of your battles you know, that's how I win," Auberon smirked, his Grotle walking out in front of him. Jayda raised an eyebrow, "I may not seem very smart, and I'm probably not, I never paid attention to any academic lessons in school, I only listened in Pokémon related classes. Mostly strategy classes. I've got an eye for things like that."

"So?" Jayda said, stopping throwing the ball.

"Oh, you'll see when I win." The elf boy chuckled, "Come on, release your Pokémon."

Jayda raised an eyebrow, wondering what he had up his sleeve as she threw out her Poké Ball, letting the Hitmonlee inside it out to battle. Grotle was already in a battle ready stance, and Hitmonlee soon joined him.

_Alright, so Grotle's speed should have stayed intact, I trained him so that it would last through his evolutions, even if it does mean he'll be easier to stop when dashing… Dodge all the quick hard hits, and hit back with small but powerful attacks that tire it out slowly, then if it seems like I'm losing go full out… that should work_, Auberon thought as MRf. raised both flags and got ready to start the battle. She dropped them both, and yelled out 'Begin!'.

Auberon smirked.

"Grotle, start this off with Razor Leaf!"

~X~X~X~

_No…!_

He did know. He figured it out. He may not know all the conditions, but that only made it worse. He thought Jaspa was a full vampire, not a half vampire that wasn't even changed yet. No… this couldn't be happening!

"D-Dax…"

"Wonder how all your little friends will feel if they know he's going to suck them all dry and dead, hm? Even if the freaks parents used to be freaks too, doesn't mean that everyone is not going to be scared or want to get rid of him," The thirteen year old smirked, pulling her to her feet.

"Y-You c-can't t-tell anyone! P-Please!" Indigo whimpered, biting her lip as pain shot through her from the tug it took to get her up, "P-Please Dax!"

"Shut up!" Dax snapped, shoving her against the wall and kicking her in the gut. Indigo only got out a gasp of pain, falling back down to the floor on her knees now, tears still falling fast from her eyes.

"P-Please…" She choked out, "H-He'll hate me… h-he'll th-think I-I told everyone… h-he'll th-think I b-broke o-our promise… pl-please…" The girl looked up at her elder brother with pleading eyes, bruising on her face starting to gradually become worse, "D-Daxy…"

Dax tensed for a minute, staring down at her, lime eyes having something a little different to them now, not the same evil glaring as before. But as quickly as that had happened, it stopped, his eyes were hard and cruel again, and Indigo found herself with an aching head as his knee slammed into her cheek and knocked her head against the wall.

"Shut the hell up you little bitch!"

Indigo was moments from breaking, Dax's attacks got worse every time, the names that joined the physical beating were horrible touches that hurt nearly as much as the kicks and punches. She had to stop him telling everyone, she had to.

"I-If h-he th-thinks I-I told h-his s-secret h-he'll tell ours!"

~X~X~X~

"Hey, Authoress?"

"Yeah TJ?" Gem said as she stopped running around with Nevee and May, the games keeping her mind off the lack of contact from Nathen in AL just as much as it was May's, "You sound strangely serious."

"I need to ask a serious question, that's why," TJ said, sighing a little, "It's about Nevee."

Gem tensed a bit, wondering what it was about, and having a bit of a bad feeling about it. But she gestured for him to come and sit down on a bench whilst Nevee continued to keep May occupied with silly games and faces. TJ sat beside the short authoress, a little on edge.

"What is it, TJ?" Gem said, looking at him, "You're not the type to be serious, just like Nevee, so I take it this is something really serious."

"I'm not totally sure, I'm just worried. Yesterday, Team Rocket attacked and tried to take May's Pokémon, and she tried to stop them herself…" TJ began. Gem's eyes instantly widened.

"She what?-! Oh man… why didn't you say? I'm supposed to be protecting May and everything! Oh man, I should've been there…" She said, panicking a bit.

"That's just it… you wouldn't've even needed to help even if you were there. Nevee went really weird, she somehow broke the arm to pieces just by holding out her hand… her eyes were red, and she looked… scary. I… I didn't understand, Nevee's too sweet to ever get so angry…" TJ continued, voice unnerved and concerned. Gem stopped panicking about what had happened with May the previous day and how she could easily be dead if something had happened and Nathen found out, tensing realising what must've happened with Nevee for only the second time, "Even weirder, after a few minutes, she seemed to forget about it completely, as if it were nothing…"

"Um… well, TJ, I can't really answer that… its confusing that's for sure, but I'd have to do research to figure out what really happened," Gem lied, but speaking with her authoress tone to keep it convincing, "I'll tell you if I figure anything out, I promise."

"Alright… sorry to bother you then, I was just worried. I bet you have enough on your mind right now," TJ said as he stood. Gem waved a hand dismissively.

"I just overreact sometimes, it's nothing big, I know he'll be fine, all that matters is keeping May believing in that," The authoress said as she stood too. TJ just nodded, then turned back to the other two that were still playing as Nevee called his name, waving him back over with a big grin. TJ chuckled, and ran to her quickly.

Gem smiled at the sight, and sat down again, deciding to have a little break from the games. She felt her PokéCell in her pocket as she did so, and bit her lip. Maybe she should send a message to ask if he was okay. Or call? No, she couldn't, he must have his reasons, right? Nathen was probably only keeping them away for their own good, right? But… Gem could look after herself, she thought he knew that. But… still… it may be so May would be safe, she couldn't defend herself if anything happened. But she just wanted to see Nathen was okay, that was all, she was worried, that was all. Surely he could trust her to be able to protect May back in Pokoh? Then again, she wasn't exactly at her strongest recently, she'd been rather pathetic actually… Guess it all must be for May's sake, to keep her safe.

Gem sighed, leaning her head over the back of the bench. She really needed to control her worrisome, pessimistic side. She could normally manage, but the recent week and a bit in AL had been near enough hell, nothing seemed to go particularly right, she could only think of one really good thing, and even that had a bitter side. She blushed a little to herself, absently chewing her lips. She sure hoped that they'd still get called back soon.

~X~X~X~

Oh god, what was she doing? That wasn't going to work! Dax wasn't stupid, he would easily realise how little sense it made, telling everyone her secret would result in her getting help, so it wouldn't make sense for Jaspa to do that in such a situation! Plus… the anger Jaspa would feel… he would… he'd… Indigo gulped as a few sobs tried to break out again, though this time she held them back.

But she forgot to take into account Dax's pride and arrogance, he didn't want to be caught for what he was doing, and that was another thing that would definitely happen if Jaspa spread the secret out of anger. But he wasn't letting Indigo win this without something to make it harder for her.

"…Fine! I won't spread the freak's secret, but listen here," He said, crouching and looking her in the eye with a glare, smirking, and with one finger under her chin to keep her looking up, "If you don't want me to tell anyone at all, then I suggest you don't _ever_ tell the freak about any more times we meet, got it? Nothing about any new hits."

Indigo whimpered more. She was so used to being able to rely on telling Jaspa everything that worried her since he found out about Dax accidentally and started to care more about her so long ago now, he'd help her all the time. Could she handle making him think the attacks had stopped and she was okay? Would she be able to hold in the pain if he touched a bruised area?

She had to keep Jaspa and his twin's secret safe though, she promised she would. So… she must handle all of it, for their sakes.

"Well?"

"I… I-I promise I-I won't tell him an-anymore…" Indigo whimpered, eyes sincere. She wasn't going to risk anything.

"Good," Dax smirked, tugging her to her feet again, running a finger across her bruised face and slightly bruised lips before chuckling to himself and just walking off.

Indigo leant against the wall, and burst into tears.

~X~X~X~

"He sure does have an eye for strategy…" Kira said as she and Lance watched the final battle between Auberon and Jayda, "Maybe I can get him to teach me."

"Would you even be able to pay attention for long enough? Besides, something like that isn't something that's taught, it's just natural. Remember whenever we'd hang out with everyone and watch battles, he'd always be super concentrated? He's been like this for years," Lance said, leaning back on his hands.

"That's tr-… wait, what do you mean I wouldn't be able to pay attention?-!" Kira said, pouting and glaring at her twin. Lance sweatdropped.

"You rush off to do something half way through doing something else a lot of the time, Kira," Lance reminded. Kira slumped.

"Shuddup…"

"Look, Auberon's nearly finished this!" Lance then said, sitting back up off his hands and focusing more on the battle. Kira immediately looked back up and watched closer too.

Auberon had gone with his now more trained Psychic type, and whilst he had been rather careful with her he had still managed to play to the strategy he had come up with to beat her well… plus the super effective moves did help a lot. The Hitmontop was close to losing the battle, and Auberon was close to getting his third badge. Everyone watched closely, and with a final Psychic attack, the Handstand Pokémon was defeated.

"Hell YES!" Auberon cheered, jumping up. Guardian gained a huge smile, glad she had helped her new trainer, and jumped up to him, giggling. Auberon chuckled and hugged her, "Good job, Guardian!"

"Well done kid, that was rather impressive," Jayda said as she returned her Pokémon and stood up, badge now in hand. She threw it over, and Auberon caught it, "You figured out my whole strategy, didn't you?"

"Yup, I sure did," Auberon said, grinning and letting his newest Pokémon clamber up onto his head.

"Well, you've got a useful talent there, it'll help you greatly in your time as a trainer," The fighter said, walking over, "Good job kid, and good luck."

"Thanks!"

~X~X~X~

"Bloody _hell_ Scarlet, less power!" Nathen said with wide eyes as Scarlet knocked down three threes in a domino effect with her Aura Pulse. Scarlet scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I try to push in less power but the more I focus my aura into that blast the more power tries to escape into it," She said, looking around the clearing. It had grown outwards in size since she started training to perform an Aura Pulse attack, as she repeatedly knocked many trees from the ground with her attempts. Every time she tried to reduce power, it only seemed to make them stronger.

"I've said this three times since you started this part of the training, it's because her aura is too powerful for her to control in such a focused attack," Hotaru said with a sigh from up in a tree, "Look kid, I know your aura is rather strong, and you may be older than me, but I have a lot more experience than you with high level aura users and the like, okay? Listen to me every now and again."

"I do listen, Hotaru, but I'm still trying to learn to trust you and Lucy. I have nothing against you, but forgive me for being a bit wary since you did used to be with them from what you've told us," Nathen said.

"I understand that, but honestly, some things you've said aren't entirely true. We haven't got a clue when she'll have to face big TUA members or the bases in a whole, sure it should _hopefully_ not be for a long time, but TUA are extremely unpredictable," The ex-commander said, "Give her time, let her practice some aiming and defensive moves, it might give her better control over her aura release."

"Hotaru has a point," Lucy said, "Believe me, I've seen her in plenty of situations, her speed and defensive moves are some of the best things she has in her arsenal. Scarlet needs some of that at least. Attacks aren't always what win a fight."

"Plus… I do kinda need to have some time for contest training," Scarlet spoke up, "The contest is tomorrow, plus there'll likely be some more contests coming up, on the way to or in Pastoria."

"I can help you there, since we're both beginner coordinators!" Crystal said from the sidelines. Scarlet nodded.

"That's what I was thinking. It'll help us both get ready for the contest."

"How about you let her have a break to train with Crystal for an hour, then do some defensive training, then attacking again?" Kathryn said. Nathen looked over, smiled once, then nodded.

"That sounds like it should work. Alright, we'll do that," The teen said as he walked to sit down beside Kate, and his sister jumped up to train with Scarlet. Scarlet grinned.

"Contest battles? There's no way I'm showing off my appeals," She said. Crystal nodded and giggled a bit, taking her Poké Ball.

"Sure, I'm up for that," The white haired girl said, "This should be fun."

"Sure will! Alright, Asher, come out!"

"Prinplup, you too!"

Hotaru leaned back against the tree, then felt Lucy give her a jab through aura. Looking down from the branch, she saw that Lucy was waving a ringing PokéCell around. Hotaru quickly hopped down from the branch, and the two backed into the trees whilst the others were busy with the training battle.

~X~X~X~

**_Somewhere in Sinnoh…_**

"_Hello?_" Hotaru's voice said from the other end of the call, "_Miles, is that you?_"

"One second," The blonde boy hissed, peering around a corner to make sure no one was there, then making a dash out of some doors, unseen. Another quick dash lead him to one of the side walls of the building, and he sat beneath a window, able to hear voices, muffled by the closed pane.

"_What's wrong, Miles?_" Lucy asked.

"Just got out of a base… trying to find information… they've only got three more official targets that _aren't_ Scarlet now, but I bet you know that already," Miles said in a hushed voice, not wanting to be heard, it was risky enough him being anywhere near the base at all. He was lucky he hadn't been caught with how much sneaking around he did in there, "The Ketchum operation itself is surprisingly hushed in here, there's gossip everywhere but no one seems to know the truth about what's going on…"

"_Doesn't surprise me, huge missions like that generally didn't get released. The only people who know the truth are generally only the ones involved,_" Hotaru said. Miles gave a nod and a small grunt to let her know he heard, hearing some noises by the window and quickly dashing to hide behind the back of the building, right before the window opened. He sighed silently in relief, "_Miles?_"

"Its freaking dangerous out here…"

"_…Right, good point there. Look, Miles, get out of there soon._"

"I will, just tell me how much you know now," The boy said, pressing back against the wall as he heard people nearby. He kept dead silent after that, putting in an ear piece to listen to the voices of the two ex TUA agents, not wanting to attract anyone's attention.

"_We've found the ones who can use aura, that Scarlet and Co. know. A boy called Nathen, and a girl called Crystal. Though, as far as we know, the girl can't use it yet… she has very strong aura, however. Nathen's helping us train Scarlet, he's rather good, but I don't know enough about him yet to say what his link to TUA is at all, though he has some sort, I'm certain,"_ Hotaru explained.

"_Also, Authoress is planning something for sometime in the next few of months, we don't know when exactly though. She's gonna try infiltrating,_" Lucy added.

"Is she crazy?-!" Miles hissed under his breath.

"_Trust us, she is. But that's not why, she can do it, believe me_," Hotaru assured, "_There's more to her than the crazy, annoying woman in the sky._"

"I'll trust you on that one… keep me posted, okay?"

"_We will, don't worry,_" Lucy promised, "_You do the same_."

"I will."

"Wonder what this big building is?" A female voice said from out front of the building. Miles perked up hearing this, listening closer. TUA agents? No, they'd know the building. Civilians?

"It doesn't look so good… Destiny, I don't think we should go near it…" Another female voice said.

"Nonsense! Where's your sense of adventure?"

"You sound like mom…"

"Shuddup!"

"…Civilians…" Miles grunted, before saying to the girls on the other end of the call, "Gotta go, some civilians are getting close to the base, I should really get them away from it."

"_Alright, you do that._"

"I'll call if I find anything new," He said one more time before hanging up, standing up slowly, and making a quick dash past the window on the wall around the corner, peaking around the front of the building, seeing two familiar girls to any readers.

Destiny was standing just in front of her twin sister, hands on her hips, looking at the huge building, Her hair was scruffier than before, still cut rather short, but the hat over it was changed. It was now a beret like cap, blue, with a white ribbon around it. She was in a black turtle neck with a light blue tank top over it, a white silk scarf around her neck. On her lower half were scruffy, torn jeans with a white ribbon as a belt.

Hope's hair was still held by the a ribbon just as it was before, but the ribbon was now pink. She wore a golden locket around her neck now, it resting just on top of her light purple, one shouldered t-shirt, with a pink tank top beneath it. She was wearing a knee length denim skirt, and pink flats.

"Come on, let's go investigate, Hope! You're such a wimp!" Destiny said, looking back at her sister. Hope shook her head.

"No! It's dangerous, I don't get a good vibe off this place! Please, sis," She pleaded, scared.

"Man, I'll go on my own then," Destiny said, rolling her eyes as she stepped toward the door. Miles tensed, then pushing his aura to boost his speed for a moment, he ran out and grabbed the two by their arms, and then teleported them in a flash.

"Wha-…" Was all either of them got out before they disappeared.

_A couple of miles into the forest…_

The three reappeared, and Miles fell back onto the floor, grunting a bit, not used to teleporting people with him. Hope and Destiny looked around, confused, not knowing what had just happened.

"God, are you stupid?" Miles said.

"Hey!" Destiny exclaimed, looking at him, "Don't go calling us stupid, Mr. Stranger person! You just grabbed us and practically kidnapped us, somehow, for no reason! I'd say that's pretty stupid!"

"I was calling you stupid, not the blonde," The boy said as he pushed to his feet, "You were about to walk into a dangerous base just because you wanted to be adventurous."

"Dangerous base?" Destiny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"See, I told you, Des!" Hope said, looking at her sister, "And don't say that we can't trust him, because I'm getting a good vibe from this guy."

"Nice to know," Miles said, "Now, what're you doing out here?"

"We're trying to get down to Pastoria, but we misread the map," The short brunette said, making her sister sigh. It was Destiny that misread it, Hope had no role in that whatsoever, but hey, that's them for you. They are Gem's kids after all.

"You're a long way off Pastoria, that I can tell you," Miles said, "And it's not going to be safe for you to wander around this area on your own with that base being there," he added.

"Can you lead us, please?" Hope said, looking at the sixteen year old. Destiny looked like she was ready to ask the same thing, but being her she wasn't going to ask herself, she wouldn't admit defeat that easy. Miles sighed once, before shrugging.

"Sure, it's not like I have much better to do right now," He said.

"Well, if you're going to you better get us there fast so we can move on fast! I so don't want to end up too involved in Mom's story, it's embarrassing when she's around…" Destiny said, pouting to herself.

"It's not that bad. We get to see Scarlet and everyone else after all," Hope said. Destiny shrugged.

"Wait…" Miles said as he realised what they said, "Scarlet? As in Ketchum? Scarlet, Indigo, Auberon, Jaspa, Nevee? Them?" Destiny gave him a weird look.

"Um, yeah, why?" She asked.

"Well, I might tag along with you two for a bit then, I need to see them at some point, even if not in Pastoria. I doubt they'll be there during the time you two need that City, but I have no doubt you girls will bump into them at some point after that if I go by what I know about them and that authoress," The son of the TUA bosses said, brushing some hair out of his eyes.

"You actually _want_ to find them with our mom around? Man you're crazy," Destiny said. Miles gave her a look.

"Says the one who nearly walked into a base without thinking, and who called me 'Mr. Stranger Person'."

"What is your name anyway?" Hope questioned, "You didn't say."

"Miles, Miles Target. I got your names from your talking, now please, we have to get moving, I was serious about it not being safe around here."

"Alright, alright. Geez…" Destiny whined.

~X~X~X~

**_That evening…_**

"How was everyone's day?" Gem said as she walked in with the three she had been with all day. May was holding her hand again, looking rather tired from a day of playing.

"I won my badge!" Auberon said as he held up the badge with a huge grin. Guardian giggled and cheered on his lap.

"And he's been boasting about it ever since," Kira added, receiving a glare off Auberon, "What? Its true!"

"I got some good training done," Scarlet said. Gem got what she meant immediately, and nodded, "Battled to practice for the contest with Crystal, she won once, and so did I."

"If we come up against each other in the contest we'll see who gets the best of three then, hey?" Crystal said from her seat.

"You're on there!"

"We had fun!" Nevee cheered, currently on TJ's back. The boy nodded in agreement, tickling her under the knees and making her squirm.

"We played all day, so it was great!" He beamed. Nevee giggled more. Everyone there had a knowing smile on their face, but played it innocent and just smiled.

"Me… yawwwww… too…" May said, yawning widely and loudly, rubbing her eyes. Gem chuckled.

"Someone's sleepy, come on kiddo, let's get you upstairs and to bed," The authoress said, squeezing her hand. May nodded drowsily, letting out another yawn. Gem chuckled, and looked to the others, "Might be a while, go and eat all of you. …Hey, where's Indigo?" She then added as a last minute thought, "And Jaspa?"

"Jaspa's sleeping I think, but I don't know about Indigo," Scarlet said, frowning a bit, "I didn't realise she wasn't here… I guess I expected her to be with Jaspa…"

"I'll take a look in the rooms for her when I'm up there," Gem said, "She's probably asleep too. But it's better to be safe than sorry," She added after, before leading May upstairs.

"Hey, at the start of this episode, did anyone else get a weird feeling that Authoress wrote then erased something embarrassing?" Auberon said randomly as the currently teenaged Authoress left. Everyone shook their heads, except Scarlet.

"You got that too?" The raven haired girl asked, furrowing her eyebrows. The elfy boy nodded, "Weird…"

~X~X~X~

In the room Gem quickly got May into bed and tucked her up, relaxing a bit herself as she sang lightly to get her to sleep, though she wasn't so confident in her singing voice. Once the girl was peacefully sleeping, snuggled under the covers and safe in the land of dreams, Gem stood up from the bed and checked everywhere in the room, paranoid and determined to check no one had somehow followed them. She did that every night so far.

Once she was certain that the room was safe and no one was going to hurt the slumbering girl, she left the room and silently closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake the six year old. Gem then turned and walked back from the room, absentmindedly beginning to think back to AL again.

"Wonder how much I've missed… Harmonic was a rather important City, but I didn't get to see much of what was due to happen before I left… I hope Nathen isn't going to keep me out from anything that might involve kicking some TUA butt though… though… if he's trying to protect May, then I bet he will…" She let out a light sigh, "Anyway, I thought I realised I'd be rather useless is any fight right now earlier? Great, now I'm _actually_ talking to myself… I really am crazy…"

She came to Jaspa and Auberon's room door, opening it and peeking inside. She saw the young half vampire was still asleep on his bed, fully dressed. But there was no sign of Indigo. Frowning, a little concerned, she walked from that room down to Scarlet and Indigo's, wondering if she was in there. When she got close to the door, she heard quiet sobs, and her 'something bad has happened' senses quickly grew. Worried, she opened the door, and looked in.

The sight was shocking.

Indigo, covered in the worst bruises that Gem had seen on her in the whole time Dax had been abusing her, sobbing her heart out and shaking, face red from tears but none left to fall.

With wide eyes, Gem let out a gasp, and closed the door quickly as she ran in, "Indigo?-!"

The girl looked up, showing the bruises on her face, "A-Authoress… H-He… h-he kn-knows…" Gem sat beside her, and put an arm around her, trying to use some aura to heal the bruises, though it was working slowly and she was sure that it wouldn't get rid of them completely. Healing was not her strong point.

"Knows what, Indigo? What does he know?" How could she have been so stupid and let Dax get there?-! How didn't she see him coming?-! Curse her! She was too busy selfishly worrying about why Nathen hadn't brought them back to AL to even think to look out for things like this… oh god…

"Ab-About… ab-about J… J-Jaspa! H-He kn-knows!" Indigo sobbed out, hugging the Authoress tight as she cried. Gem's eyes widened more, and she froze, "H-He d-doesn't un-understand f-fully, b-but h-he figured o-out wh-what h-he's becoming! H-He threatened t-to tell everyone!"

"O-Oh god…"

"H-He only… p-promised n-not… n-not to if-if I… I-I… d-didn't t-tell J-Jaspa ab-about the a-attacks anymore… if-if I-I made him th-think that it-it had s-s-stopped…" Indigo continued through her dry sobs, whimpering, "I-I… I-I agreed… I-I won't l-let J-Jaspa h-hate m-me…"

"Why would he hate you, Indigo?" Gem said, looking at the bruises. They'd faded a bit, the ones on her face had gone the most, but they were still there and would need make up coverage.

"B-Because h-he'd th-think I-I told everyone!"

"What? No he wouldn't!"

"H-He would! Y-You kn-know h-he f-finds it-it hard t-to th-think rationally w-without a-anger now…" The trainer bawled. Gem was struck silent now, she couldn't think of how to comfort the girl. Dax had gone too far now, that she knew, but she also knew she couldn't intervene, or it was possible Indigo could get in even more trouble. And worse, she had brought this on her today.

"C-Come on… s-stop it, I-Indigo… don-don't think negatively… you'll figure this all out… it'll be okay… come on…" She said, her attempts to calm her pitiful, "W-We… should get you… covered…"

"R-Right…" Indigo choked out, sitting up, but not stopping sobbing. Gem felt her heart twist a bit, and bit her lip. She stood up, and grabbed the make up from Indigo's bag, before going back, "Th-Thank you…"

"D-Don't say th-that, there's no need…" _Especially not since this is my selfish fault…_ She covered all the bruises with the makeup, making sure it didn't look unnatural, and that it would stay on. The makeup would always stay on if it was rubbed or put in water, Indigo had gotten it for that purpose. It wouldn't betray her secrets.

"Th-There is… Y-You… Y-You may b-be annoying at-at times… b-but y-you're h-here for us wh-when we n-need it…" Indigo sobbed, putting the bandages back on her arm to make sure no one asked questions as to why she'd taken it off when the cut couldn't've healed yet. Gem choked back a sob of her own. She hugged her charge, and rubbed her back again.

"Y-You're delusional, Indigo… come on, I'm the annoying one, the voice who never leaves you alone…" She said. Indigo weakly managed a smile before more sobs broke out. Gem smiled back weakly, continuing to try and comfort her, "Don't worry, I'll make it so he won't touch you again whilst you're in this town at least… I can't do much, but I can do that…" She wasn't supposed to interfere too much in some plot lines, she knew, but it was the least she could do.

"Th-Thanks…"

"N-No need…"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Some of this chapter was so hard to write! D: Poor Indigo, I feel so evil now! This chapter was a mix of happy and sad I guess. Anyway, I'll say something on OCs right now. I am working out a way to bring them all back in some of the upcoming cities! So people who've not seen some or all of their OCs for a while, they'll be coming in the upcoming cities hopefully, though you all know it could easily be a while before those cities, I'll try my best though! Well, R&R!**


	57. Ep 56: Restarting the Lie

**Me: I very, very much agree with A Red Penguin and Nathen, I hate Dax more again now too. But you know the slightly (veeeery) scary thing I realised? Dax and Jaspa are really freaking similar! Both of them do things to Indigo (abuse or scaring/drinking her blood) because of something neither of them can control or overcome alone… I'm scared. How did I manage to do that? D: **

***cough* Anyway, contest this chapter… shiiit, I hate battles enough as it is, contest are even harder… plus there's appeals… oooh boy…**

**Episode 56- Restarting the Lie**

**"Last chapter: Everyone had a day to train and relax, with Auberon winning his third badge. Now, it's the day of the contest, and our little visitor is still here,"**

"So today I get to watch a contest?" May said as Gem woke her up properly, and brushed her hair. Gem smiled and nodded, ruffling her hair then brushing it back down again.

"Yep, Scarlet, Lance and Crystal are competing, it should be fun to watch," The authoress said, putting the brush away and standing up, "We have to get going though, like now, they've gone off to hurriedly register because they forgot to, and I need to be down there just in case I need to pull some authoress strings."

"Okay Gemmy!" May said as she hopped up too, grabbing her hand again. Gem smiled.

"Well then, let's go little May," She said as she started walking. May followed, but slowed a bit seeing the PokéCell in Gem's pocket. Gem caught this, and looked back at her, frowning a confused frown, "You okay?"

"Can you… call big brother?" The young girl asked as she looked up. Gem's frown grew, then seeing her PokéCell was visible she sighed, face relaxing to a soft expression.

"May…"

"Well? Can you? Have you? Is he okay?" May asked, trying to keep a frantic tone away from her voice. Gem crouched a bit, and gave the girl's hand a small squeeze.

"I could… but I haven't… and… I… don't plan to…" She looked down after saying this, and bit her lip, "Now, please don't be annoyed with me or anything, I have my reasons, and I'm almost _certain_ he's okay back there, okay? He'll be alive there, he never breaks a promise," The current teen tried to assure.

"But… you could let me speak to him!" May said, sounding a little urgent. Gem sighed, she knew this would happen soon enough, it may have only been a few days they were stuck away from Nathen, in this time line at least (she had no idea how many days could've passed in AL), but this was still hard on them, especially the younger sister of the boy.

"May, please. Nathen obviously hasn't called us back yet for some reason, for all I know he might not even be carrying his cell, or have it off. Your brother normally has a good reason for everything, and I trust him with my life… trust me here, please…" Gem said, looking the girl in the eye. May just stared for a minute, before hanging her head slightly and nodding.

"O-Okay… I trust you… Nathen trusts you, so I do too…" The six year old said. Gem smiled a bit and gave the girl a quick hug.

"Good girl… come on kiddo, let's go watch the contest now, 'ey? Cheer you up a bit," She said, looking at her. May smiled a bit with a nod.

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!_**

"That was a close shave… I so didn't want to have to pulled out of a situation by Authoress, that woulda been embarrassing," Scarlet said as she looked at her entry pass for the contest that began in a couple of hours. Crystal nodded.

"I wouldn't've minded, but its lucky we got there before they stopped accepting people. I can't wait to compete; it'll be my third Ribbon!" Crystal said.

"More like it'll be _my_ third," Lance said.

"Yeah yeah, keep thinking what you want to; I'll be getting my second today!" Scarlet said, grinning. Both the other coordinators laughed.

"Well, we'll find that out later," Gem said as she walked over to them, "You should probably be going to the contest hall to get ready," She added.

"Yeah yeah, we know we know, god," Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes. Then she spotted Jaspa walking down to the lobby from his very long sleep, and snickered, "Well, Mr. 'I'm going to have a small nap' finally rose from the dead!"

Jaspa immediately had to hold back a glare for the unintentionally jab at his condition, sighing and shoving his hands in his pocket, "I was tired, couldn't help it. Where's Indigo?"

"That would be the first thing you ask. Well, she's still asleep last time I checked, I think she got to sleep late last night or something, but I was too tired to ask…" Scarlet said with a light frown as she wondered what was wrong with her best friend. Jaspa thanked her quickly before going up to the room she shared with Indigo to check on the girl.

Gem watched him go with a lump in her throat, hoping for both the two's sakes – though knowing it would hurt both at the same time – that Indigo could keep her mouth shut. She wished it hadn't turned out like this, but she couldn't do anything. She couldn't touch Dax.

"Come on, let's get you three to the Hall," Nathen said as he stood up. Crystal nodded at her brother.

"Okay!" Scarlet said. Lance agreed.

~X~X~X~

"Indi?" Jaspa said as he looked into the room. He smiled when he saw his crush safely in her bed, sleeping peacefully, snuggled into the warm covers. The half-vampire boy walked inside, and kneeling by her bed he gently shook her, "Indigo, Indigo its morning."

Indigo yawned, opening her blue eyes slowly, and giving a small smile seeing Jaspa, though she wanted to cry, "Oh, Jas… I overslept?"

"Looks like that, yes," Jaspa said with a small chuckle.

"You're in a pleasant mood."

"The majority of people downstairs are cheerful, that has its own affect on me too, even if not as much as on Nevee… she's nearly bouncing off the walls down there," The researcher chuckled. Indigo smiled a bit more, "Come on, everyone's making their way to the contest hall, we should get going," He then added, taking her hand and helping her out of bed. None of her bruises were visible anymore, so he didn't even bat an eye as she stood.

"Thanks, I just need to get dressed, so shoo!" Indigo said, shoving his back. Jaspa smiled and walked out of the room.

As soon as she was sure he was gone, Indigo sighed in relief. She had had to use all her mental will not to break down in his arms and tell him everything that had happened the previous day. This was going to be tough.

She got dressed rather slowly so as not to jerk any bruised limbs too much, she didn't want to show obvious signs of pain, and then checked the makeup was still covering all her injuries, before nodding to herself and taking a huge breath. She muttered 'You can do this' under her breath several times, before walking out to Jaspa and taking his hand to get his attention.

Jaspa opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling once before standing straight off the wall, "Come on then, let's go to the contest, I bet everyone else has already gone and got us seats saved even if there's a couple of hours left."

"Well, Authoress always makes us prepare early," Indigo shrugged casually. Jaspa nodded a bit in agreement.

"That's true. Well, let's go. Hey, I guess we got lucky this time, no Dax," He said. Indigo tensed, and hoped to god he didn't notice. She had to start to lie now, she knew it. She couldn't tell him the truth about Dax, but he had to know he was there, before he saw him in the contest.

"Um… actually, Jaspa, he is here."

"What?-!" Jaspa turned to look at her, stopping dead in his tracks, eyes flashing a light red. Indigo put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down, "Has he hurt you?-!"

"No, he… was actually… rather pleasant…" She swallowed hard, hoping he didn't notice. This was even harder than she thought, she couldn't keep this up, surely, "He was really nice, acting like the old Dax with just a bit of the new Dax… he didn't hurt me at all… he even apologised…"

"He… really?" Jaspa was stunned, could this be the truth? Dax was being nice? He knew from his time in AL from Kris that it was _possible_ that one day he would stop, or come out about something, but this soon? It had really only been a couple of weeks since that trip (that's what happens when it takes weeks to update) to Pokoh, only about three at the most since Dax's last attack. How could this have come about so soon?

"Yes… really…" Indigo made sure not to betray her lie in her eyes or face, something she had been doing for many years, and gave him a big smile, "I think it's over… I think it's finally over…"

Jaspa stared at her for a moment, before hugging her tightly. Indigo bit her lip down on the pain this caused on her bruises, and hugged him back, pushing back the guilty tears that tried to form.

"That's… great! Oh Indi I'm so happy for you!" He said, arms tightening more, "But… this doesn't mean… you won't be so close to me because you don't have anything to tell me, right?"

"Of course not! You're my second closest friend now, close enough to being my best over Scarlet, even if not quite… I won't ever stop being your friend now… okay?" Indigo assured. She still needed him, even if she couldn't tell him anymore.

"Thank you… that… means a lot to me, Indigo…" Jaspa said, voice going a bit quieter. Indigo smiled at him.

"Come on, let's go, we have to catch up to the others, right? Ha, bet I can beat you there!" She poked his nose then ran off. Jaspa chuckled, then ran after her, trying to ignore how much like that stupid paranoid elf he felt.

~X~X~X~

**_Contest Hall – 10 minutes until Appeal #1_**

"What number appeal am I again?" Scarlet asked. Crystal sweatdropped.

"Do you always get like this at contests?" The white haired girl asked, sitting calmly on her seat whilst Scarlet was on her feet and jittering.

"She pretty much does, yes," Gem said as she walked into the lounge with May. When she got weird looks from the three coordinators, she gestured to May, "I said I'd show her the contestants Lobby, is all. I'm not stalking you any more than normal."

"I can't help getting nervous! I did lose in my first appeal round, remember, and I got beaten by Dax in my second. It wasn't 'til my third I won my ribbon! It's natural for me to be nervous!" Scarlet said, hands on her hips. Gem sweatdropped.

"We never said it wasn't," Lance pitched in, "You've just asked that question _ten times_ in the last two minutes," He pointed out, giving her a look. Scarlet blushed and looked down.

"S-Shut up! I did not!"

"You're number four, Scarlet. Anyway, mind if you guys look after May for a bit? I need to do some things upstairs, including annoying you all during the contest," Gem said, gesturing to the sky.

"Sure, we'd be happy to look after her," Crystal said, smiling. May smiled at Gem then ran over to the three young coordinators, hopping up to the seat and swinging her legs. Gem chuckled, then in an instant she had disappeared.

Who's appeal one by the way?

Everyone downstairs jumped, before sighing realising Gem was just speaking to them again. Lance looked up.

"It's me this time," He said, "Scarlet is Number 4, and Crystal is number 10," Alrighty then! It's so typical the first performance is one of you guys… I hate contests and battles… T.T

"I'm number 7 if you need to know," An all too familiar voice. Oh boy, you are sooo lucky that I just came up here, you little…! Ugh I would say something very foul but there's a six year old down there… dammit…

"Not this again…" Scarlet sighed. If you only knew… Fine, fine, I'll try to be civil to the blue snot ball, okay? "Good."

"**Welcome to this year's Veilstone Pokémon Contest! I'm your host Lillian, and your judges are the usual! Mr Contesta, Sukizo, and Nurse Joy!**"

"**A pleasure to be here as always,**" Boring… man, they've gone down in vocab again.

"**Remark-**" I don't even need to finish that one… Gah! Get a thesaurus again!

"**An honour to be here**," Joys… all the freaking same.

"I suppose they're identical in mind as well as appearance," Dax commented, looking up at the screen as he sat by May. The girl started to feel a bit uneasy, something about him felt off, so she shuffled closer to the purer feeling Crystal, staying away from Dax. Ah shuddup, I didn't ask you.

"I thought you said you were going to be civil?" Crystal said. I'm like that to a lot of people, that is basically one of my levels of civil.

"I like this place and all of you, you're funny and different," May smiled with a giggle.

"**First up, we have Lance Piaggesi!**" You're up Lance!

"Believe it or not, I did hear," The eleven year old said as he stood, grabbing a Poké Ball as he ran out of the room to go do his appeal.

~X~X~X~

"Dustox, you're up!" Lance called as he ran out and threw his Poké Ball. Surrounded by silver stars, his Bug Type Moth Pokémon appeared, twirling around in the air with the stars constantly following it, "Keep those starts around with Confusion!"

There was a light glow around the stars as they stopped mid air, then scattered around the room, hovering over people's heads and the stage. Dustox's eyes were glowing too, and it looked around to survey its work. Lance smiled as his appeal went well, then ordered his next move.

"Use Moonlight!"

The contest hall suddenly went dark, as if it were the middle of the night, all that could really be seen on the stage were the glowing eyes of Dustox. But after a minute, a light shone into the room again, dull but beautiful, like real moonlight. Dustox sparkled a bit as it grew healthier, though it had no damage previously, and all the silver stars in the room grew bright as the light shone on them. It began looking like a beautiful night scene.

"And finally, Silver Wind!"

The Moth slowly began flapping its wings, having been hovering before. Silver crescents began to come from them, bright and strong, clashing with each other as they overlapped in front of Dustox. They burst into sparkles that made Dustox look even nicer.

"Beautiful!"

"A Remarkable Per-…" I am going to murder him… *drops a thesaurus on his head* "Ow!" Use it!

"A stunning use of Dustox's attacks."

Lance grinned as his Pokémon dropped the appeal piece by piece, then returned it, running off stage.

~X~X~X~

**_Bleachers…_**

"He did well as always!" Kirar-… Kira grinned, "Oh boy, you're back in the sky aren't you?" Only for a little bit, but yep.

"We've got three performances before Scarlet's, right?" Auberon said. Yep! "I wasn't asking you…" I know.

"Not that again," Kate said, with a small giggle. Yep, that again! I'm gonna enjoy my time in the sky! Whoop!

"Yay!" Nevee giggled, obviously happy her old cheer was being used again. Good ol' Nevee.

"Why're you up there anyway? And where's little May if you're up there?" Nathen asked, looking at the sky. May's with the others in the Coordinators' lobby, I asked them to look after her. And I'm up here to annoy people, and just to check a few things.

"The annoy people thing doesn't surprise me," TJ said with a chuckle, trying to ignore the dancing Pokémon Nevee had yet again dressed up. Luckily for Asher, unlike last time I remember this happening, he wasn't involved. This time, Guardian and Vapor had willingly joined to fit in and have some fun.

Indigo and Jaspa weren't really paying attention to the others' conversation, either focusing on the appeals or each other instead.

"Hey, Jas?" Indigo said in a hushed tone, so that the others couldn't hear.

"Yes?"

"Do you think that… your mood… you haven't been bitter much at all since a few days back… when you, you know… do you think your mood might have something more to do with the fact your… vampire… side has been fed or is it really just the moods of others?" She bit her lip after, looking down. She hoped this wouldn't make him angry again.

Jaspa looked a little stunned by the suggestion, unsure what to say, not wanting it to be true because he _hated_ the feeling of hurting her. But… she had a point… "I… I suppose that makes sense… though, today it also has to do with your good news, Indi."

Indigo felt her heart break a little.

~X~X~X~

**_Authoress Room_**

"Off," Gem said as she temporarily turned off the microphone that allowed her to speak to the characters. Looking around the high-tech room, she hit a few buttons, turning on three screens beside the one already on to watch the others. On one, a list of cameras and dates appeared, so she could watch back footage of things she hadn't seen. One screen said 'awaiting selection', and another stayed blank.

Scrolling through the footage, she flinched as she found the one that must be the one she was looking for. She didn't really want to watch it, but she had to see what she had caused. Selecting it, the 'awaiting' screen flashed into life with a scene familiar to us all from the day before. The Pokémon Centre hallway, in the middle of the day, Indigo and Dax the only people in shot. Gem watched the whole scene through, no matter how much she wanted to stop it and just cry for her charge, and saw the whole exchange. The way Dax had used her crush's secret against her was horrid, and Indigo was strong willed to hold out that long before fighting back enough to stop him spreading it all together, even at the cost of some of her own happiness. Gem wished she could help the girl more, but she knew there were some things she just couldn't intervene in.

Closing the scene and turning those two screens off quickly, she focused on the third screen. Tapping a few things, then tapping buttons on the screen itself, she opened a page to try and zone in somewhere else. Typing in the location and person she wanted to see, she clicked enter.

**ERROR: Unable to Access**

Gem groaned, slamming her fist on the keyboard, making it search something random. She threw her chair back so she could stand and walked to a wall, kicking it hard, "Fuck! Fuck-Fuck-Fuck!" She yelled, kicking it several times, before sighing and leaning her arms on the wall, head rested between them. Taking a few deep breaths, she choked a sob.

"I-I'm pathetic… Even May isn't being this bad and she's his sister and six fucking years old! I haven't even seen him as who he is for nearly four years, even more here in this storyverse, and only knew him two before that anyway! Plus I was just a foolish kid! Ugh! Why couldn't this just be a stupid little crush that would fade?-! Why… Why do I let this… affect me so much…" She choked back another sob, and hit her head against the wall, "I hate this… even knowing I used to have a chance doesn't help any…" She slid down to her knees, tears in her eyes, "I was only the middle girl anyway… out of the three people I know he truly cared enough about to love for real… Emily was the first, special first true love… Alice is third, third time's the charm… and there I was in the middle… oh god I really do sound absolutely pitiful!"

She turned around and leant against the wall, hiding her face in her hands, trying to calm herself down. She knew she was dragging issues into this that didn't even matter to the situation, he was probably only keeping them away because he _cared_ about _both_ of them, that should be the assurance she needs, that he has to care to be doing this. Everything was piling up on her.

First, the building pressure of Indigo's abuse, Jaspa and Nevee's condition, and Scarlet's family, her trying to find the solutions but failing. Then her past coming out to Lucy and Hotaru, memories she'd rather forget stirred again. Nathen returning her memories of their past together whilst she was visiting AL, and thus bringing back her feelings for him in the process. The push of her feelings to try something, and her accidentally showing her feelings to him. Team Existence finding her in AL, manipulating her feelings, and nearly capturing her. Possibly the death of her parents. Nathen telling her he used to feel the same and they nearly had their chance. Then Nathen in that fight, and her being sent away with May for their safety. And now, the agony of waiting for news, and the guilt of feeling distraction caused more issues. It was a pile of pressure. She didn't know how long it was going to be before she broke.

~X~X~X~

**_Scarlet's Performance Time_**

"Oh boy… my turn…" Scarlet said to herself, standing ready to go out as she always did. She always made sure she was ready to run out now, she hated taking chances.

"**Next up, Scarlet Stone-Ketchum!**" Lillian-who-really-should-be-Marian (hell yes I haven't said that in ages, yay for looking back at old contests!) announced. Scarlet took a deep breath, then with her Poké Ball in hand she ran out onto the stage, smile on her face, and let her Pokémon out.

"Pika, you're up!" She called, letting out her newest Pokémon. She'd practiced her appeal with her whenever she had the chance, and was pretty confident it could work out.

Pika came out surrounded by a smoke seal, making it impossible to see her. But a moment later, a bright light shone within the dark smoke, creating a slightly eerie but beautiful effect. With a few quick swipes of her tail, light from her flash attack on the end of it, the smoke dissipated and you could see the Pikachu clearly. Her cheeks were sparking.

"Electro Ball!"

The electric mouse formed the large ball of pure electricity, sparking and bright. Pika smirked confidently as it controlled it, making sure it stayed in place in mid air.

"Iron Tail!"

Then as her tail began to glow and turn as hard as iron, Pika pushed up with her small but strong paws and jumped into the air, doing a flip and preparing to slam the tail down on its target. With as much force as she could muster the tail smashed down on the ball of electricity and broke it up, sparks flying everywhere, enhancing Pika's appearance with her natural element.

"Agility, catch all those sparks!"

With lightning speed (pun intended) Pika dashed around the stage, catching all the sparks in a small ball shape on the end of her tail, forming a smaller version of the earlier ball of electricity. The main purpose of that move was to show off the electric type's speed, the ball formed was just an extra touch.

"A fantastic performance, you showed off all of your Pikachu's strengths," Mr. Contesta said.

"A…' he checks the thesaurus, 'An incredible performance."

"A beautiful way to show Pikachu's power," Joy finished.

Scarlet cheered to herself, thanking her Pokémon, then running off.

~X~X~X~

"You did great Scarlet!" May beamed from her seat, still shifted away from Dax. Scarlet grinned.

"Thanks, May," She said, sitting down after making Dax budge over. May relaxed a little, the uneasy feeling from Dax blocked by the girl, "You want to play with Pika for a bit? There's ages 'til the battles round, and I don't know if I'm using her even if I do get through," Scarlet added.

"Okay!" May smiled, giggling as Pika hopped down to her lap. Pika grinned up at her, making her giggle more.

"So I'm up after five more appeals, right?" Crystal said. Yep! "You're back again then," I didn't leave, "You went silent," I just had to do some stuff you guys couldn't hear.

"You're random," Lance said. I know.

"Want me to kill you when you come down here?" Scarlet said, glaring at the sky. You can't lay a finger on me, "Wanna bet?" Do _you_ wanna bet? I'm the one who can control you here, "…Good point," Tee-hee.

I can't believe I have to write two more Appeals though… I'm running out of ideas… I think I'll have to leave the battles until next chapter.

"I don't mind, it means we get a longer break," Lance said.

"We might get one much longer than we want though… when she leaves it before a battle she always takes longer…" Scarlet grumbled. Well, sorry about that, I can't always help it! You're going to be stuck a lot when my young-… uh… main world self goes back to school. Biiiiiig year, "Dammit…"

"Hey! She's frizzed my hair!" May said with a bit of a giggle.

"(Oops…)" Pika sweatdropped, scratching the back of her head. Scarlet facepalmed, sighed, then laughed, helping May calm her hair back down. Maaaan this break between the appeals is annoying and hard to f-… *random ringtone* Wah! Who the heck is c-… wait… only one person has that Cell's number… holy crap!

Gem quickly reappeared down in the Contest Lobby, grabbing her PokéCell out of her pocket. The four coordinators looked confused, but May's eyes widened, getting hopeful. Gem opened it quickly. She'd been debating about this in her head ever since she first thought about it, and only now had he saved her that trouble. God it actually better be him.

"Hello?" She said as calmly as she could manage.

"**_Hey Gem…_**" Nathen's voice came from the other end. Gem instantly let out a sigh of relief, before her expression turned frantic.

"Nathen! Are you okay?-! What happened with Vion?" She asked, voice showing off how panicked she was. She mentally cursed herself for that.

"**_Calm down, Gem_**," Nathen chuckled, "**_I'm alright; could you put May on for me? I have someone who wants to talk with her._**"

"Oh, sure…" Of course this was about May, Gem should've realised, he wouldn't've called now if whoever this was (likely his parents or someone similar she guessed) hadn't wanted to talk to May, probably to have assurance she was okay, _Oh for god's sake stop it! He's okay, that's what matters, not that he's only called to check on May… be grateful he called at all, now you don't have to worry quite as much!_ Then,_ Man, couldn't he have called before I nearly had a mental breakdown?_ "May, someone wants to speak to you," Gem then said calmly as she took the phone from her ear and gave it to the girl. May happily took it, and spoke cheerily.

"Hello?" Silence, "Is anyone there?" May said, frowning slightly.

"**_Hey baby… its mommy…_**" A soft female voice replied. May's face lit up.

"Hi Momma!" She beamed happily, "How are you?"

"**_I'm good baby, how're you?_**"

"I'm good momma; I've made a lot of good friends! And the Pokémon that Nathen gave me are all really cute!" May said, voice still cheery. She grinned at Gem who giggled a little, "I really miss you, daddy, and big brother though…" Her voice fell just a little.

"**_We miss you too baby…_**' a small pause '**_I have to go Maymay, be good for Gem and I'll see you soon,_**" Her mother said.

"I will! Bye mommy!" May said, then handing the phone back to Gem who took it with a small nod to her. The two coordinators either side of her smiled at her as she giggled happily, glad she got to talk to her mother.

"Nathen?" Gem said down the phone.

"**_Hey Gem,_**" He answered.

"So… when do you want us to come back?" The authoress asked. She bit her lip, hoping he knew when, or at least had some idea, so she knew she could properly relax, but the answer she got wasn't so.

"**_I'll tell you when, Gem, just be patient and keep May safe,_**" Was what she received instead. She mentally sighed, she should've known as such. She'd been going over the reasons in her head constantly, so she decided not to bother asking him why not now or what was going on, who knew what time it was over there in AL, he probably wanted to get off the phone now.

"I will… please, be careful…" Gem said quietly, before the phone cut off. She wasn't sure which of them had hung up, but the call was done. With a small sigh, she slipped it into her back pocket again.

"So this guy you've been fretting about is okay then?" Scarlet said, looking up from the cheerful May. Gem nodded with a slight sigh.

"Yep, he's perfectly fine from what I can tell from that call… just worried about bringing us back at the wrong time, and someone else worried about if I'm looking after May safely here," She replied, leaning against the wall.

"I'm glad I got to talk to Mommy, I hope we can go back so I can see her soon," May said, "And if she's with big brother, daddy must be too, so I can see him!"

"We'll hopefully be back there soon," Gem said with a slight smile. May beamed.

"**And next up is Crystal Peirce!**" Lillian announced.

"Time for me to go back in the air…" Gem said before disappearing. Crystal stood up and after being wished good luck, she ran off to do her appeal.

~X~X~X~

"Glaceon, come on out, it's your turn!" Crystal called as she ran on stage, throwing her Poké Ball. The Ice Type Eeveelution came out surrounded by pink hearts, which she quickly froze with an ice beam. The icy hearts sparkled and fell to the floor, smashing and sending pink and white sparkles everywhere around Glaceon.

She landed on her feet, and awaited order, icy coat still shining from the sparkles.

"Icy wind, Swift, and then Ice Beam!"

The cold wind was fired and maintained enough to cover the air around the field area, and the golden starts were shot out to circle around in the winds' current soon after. Then, with great accuracy, the Ice Type managed to freeze all the starts as they circled her, turning them into ice stars, that were held up in the air despite the added weight because of the strong wind created.

"Now Quick Attack to smash them all with Iron Tail!"

Glaceon did as instructed, and the sparkles created yet again enhanced the Pokémon's appearance, the icy wind flowing around her making that even more effective.

"A beautiful performance."

"A… uh…' thesaurus, 'notable performance," Is that the best you can do, really?-! "It was in the book…" I give up… I give up…

"An amazing appeal," Borrring.

"Thank you!" Crystal said as she ran off stage.

~X~X~X~

Dax went on to perform an annoyingly good performance with a Vibrava, and many other coordinators had shown their own performances. It was soon to be time to find out who was going into the next round.

"Man I'm nervous… I hope we all get through," Scarlet said, twiddling her thumbs. Worrywart, "Shut up! You'd be worried too!"

"**And now, time to announce those continuing to the battle round!**"

They tensed and looked at the screen.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Phew! Got this out before school starts again on Wednesday! I'll try and do my best to update as often as I can during school, promise, but with coursework… its gonna be hard. I'll be doing it in-between coursework assignments, as well as talking to people and doing other FF and DA projects, as well as other things. I'm going to try my best though. Promise. R&R!**


	58. Ep 57: Continuing the Contest

**Me: Okay, I'm going to be doing my best to type overdrive when I have the chance. It'll be hard since its battles, but I'll do my best! =D Coursework and homework often makes me rather lazy after it, so sorry if this really took a long time, since I keep getting distracted and can't write much.**

**And yay, random good news! I'VE GROWN! =D …Okay, it's only by 2 inches, but still! Yay! I'm 4'11" now!**

**And man, my birthday isn't that far off now… and I've got a lot going on in November! I've got a math exam the day after my birthday, a concert to go to, a convention to go to, and more… man…**

**Episode 57- Continuing the contest**

**"Last episode: The contest got under way with the appeal round, and the coordinators are currently left to wait for the results. Gem and young May found some reassurance for their worries about the young girl's brother, and more stuff I am not allowed to mention. Now, let's see if the coordinators we are following have gotten through."**

"Man I'm nervous… I hope we all get through," Scarlet said, twiddling her thumbs. Worrywart, "Shut up! You'd be worried too!"

"**And now, time to announce those continuing to the battle round!**"

They tensed and looked at the screen.

The first picture of the eight that were moving through flipped to reveal one of the unnamed coordinators in the contest that they hadn't paid much attention to. The next cared revealed Dax B-… Sketchit *grumble*, to which he just gave a satisfied nod. Another unknown person appeared, soon followed by Lance who breathed a sigh of relief. Next, Scarlet, who gave a giant cheer which got her weird looks. Then another randomer… then another… then another… then Crystal! Phewy, they all got through! …wait, that probably means more battles… sugar!

"Thank the lord we got through…" Scarlet said with a relieved sigh. Of course you did, told you! "Shuddup you're killing it!"

"Good luck all of you!" May grinned. Crystal giggled, smiling at her.

"Thank you May," She said, ruffling her hair a bit, making her squirm with another giggle. We've got to see the match ups yet, who knows how that'll turn out.

"You?" Lance said. Nope, I actually don't this time. I haven't been able to fix this one. Lance facepalmed and sweatdropped. What? It's easier fixing things! You guys mostly win on your own though, I fixed more during your parents' times than now.

"You're stupid," Scarlet said, glaring at the sky. Meh.

"**And now the battle match ups!**"

Everyone looked up to the board again, wondering who was fighting against whom.

The first match up was a pair of the unknown coordinators.

The second was Dax annnnd…

**_Theme: Third Generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one!  
We're better than ever and we're never givin' up,  
Gonna keep on fightin' 'til we reach the top!  
Cos' we still gotta catch 'em all,  
Never gonna let you fall!  
Third generation of Pokémon,  
Comin' at you we're number one! _**

**_(I think I need to either come up with a new theme, use an old Pokémon one, or have a contest for a new one…)_**

…ah crap, Lance!

"I'm doomed…" Lance groaned, facepalming again. Oh come on, you can kick his butt! "He has two more years experience than me," So? That doesn't mean crap!

"Thanks, Authoress," Dax said, raising an eyebrow. Ah shuddup or I won't even be a little civil!

Next up, Crystal against a randomer, and Scarlet against a randomer.

Lance, you really have to get Dax out of this! Scarlet needs to get to the finals at least, I swear, she's furthest behind.

"I'm agreeing for once. I want to get there fair and square, but if I face Dax again I'm stuffed! You have to knock him out. No offence, Dax," Scarlet said, adding that last bit looking at the bluenette.

"None taken, I get what you mean. I've probably got a rather high amount compared to you all, I've already got three," You what?-! Already?-! "Yes, already," Dax said. Ah kutabare! ('Fuck You' in Japanese according to Google translate!) "…I did understand that you know," Yeah, that was the point, I wasn't going to say it in English with May there.

"Which order are the battles in?" Crystal asked. In the order they appeared, so you guys still have some time, "Okay then."

Time to check on the bleachers!

~X~X~X~

**_Bleachers…_**

"Lance I against Dax? Man he is screwed!" Glad to see you have faith in your brother, Kira. Kirar-… Kira sweatdropped and shrugged, "Want me to kill you?" Look, you can't lay a finger on me, I'm so not scared.

"We never know what the result might be," Auberon said, "Depends how they fight, who they use, stuff like that. I may not know contests as well as gyms, but the basic fighting aspects are still the same, just with all the glitz added," he continued.

"Well, guess we'll find out," Nathen said.

"If he doesn't beat Dax, then someone else better get him out of the competition, or Scarlet and Crystal might not get near the end," Indigo said, trying not to choke on the mention of her half brother's name, trying to keep her act up, though today it felt so much harder than normal.

"That's true I guess, he's even more experienced compared to them than to Lance, even if only by a year," Jaspa said, still momentarily tensing at the name, from habit. Indigo weakly smiled, she was glad his good mood was continuing, and just prayed that he wouldn't find out the truth.

"Guess we'll see when it gets to their battles," Kathryn said, "The first battle is two people we don't know."

"Might as well still pay attention, see who they might be up against. Get Auberon to analyse them," Kira giggled. Auberon sweatdropped.

"I'm no good with coordinators, Kirara," Auberon said. Kira glared.

"It's KIRA!"

"I know, that's why I do it!" The elfy boy snickered. Kira face-barrier-ed. Yes, she face-desked on the barrier *face-desk*

~X~X~X~

**_Authoress Room…_**

Authoress rubbed her head from the face-desk, turning off her microphone as the first battle got underway, knowing there was no need for commentary during that time. Besides, now she was just a smidgen more focused and not worrying about Nathen, she could get some important research done, right? Even if it was about TUA…

With a huge sigh, she turned to one of her screens and turned it on, using the database accessing section her Authoress computer's and Hotaru and Lucy's personal mini-laptop that they would use for similar purposes. They were linked, but she was pretty sure Hotaru and Lucy weren't using anything at the minute, so she wouldn't be interrupting them by doing her own research.

She looked up the Ketchum files, using some hacking skills to find the right file and get past the lock on it. It was only the basic statuses file. She'd need to be a much better hacker to access the confidential, full detail files, but luckily all she needed for now was this basic one.

**Ash Ketchum –** Resisting Recruitment. Minor injuries inflicted, alive. **  
_Aura_ _– _**_Extreme, Blue_

**May Ketchum** – Injured. Being used as Incentive, but is currently not working, only wavering the Ketchum male once  
**_Aura_ _– _**_Unnotable_

**Ruby Stone-Ketchum – **Resisting Recruitment. Three cracked ribs, one broken hand, alive.  
**_Aura_**_ – Extreme, Dark Blue_

**Peter Stone-Ketchum **– Injured. Being used as incentive, also not working. Causing her to waver twice, but still currently ineffective  
**_Aura_ –**_ Unnotable_

**Rori and Roi Stone-Ketchum **– Being re-educated, some minor injuries as the girl is feisty. Being used as incentive indirectly (mainly illusions), caused the mother to waver three times, but she still refuses

**_Aura – _**_Extreme but unstable from their young age. Girl – Dark Blue, Boy – Light Blue_

**Jasper Ketchum – **Resisting Recruitment. Injured, but heals unusually quickly. No current incentive, plan is to use other incentive captives for other Ketchums here too.

**_Aura_**_ – Extreme, Blue_

The rest read as 'un-captured', or something along those lines. Gem was immediately worried about a lot of them, but couldn't stop a giggle at the thought of Rori fighting back like the stubborn little girl she was. She double checked the files, making sure she hadn't missed small details mentioned, but found she hadn't and moved away from that page. She checked on a couple of things in the files, including trying to find any information on any Existence links. She sighed seeing nothing of use to her, and checked the screens to see that the first battle was almost over and it was close to the time for Lance and Dax to fight. As she looked away, she caught a file that said something about the stolen Adamant orb, but decided it couldn't be anything major and just shut the database off, and the mike back on.

"Alrighty then, looks like it's time for your battle!"

~X~X~X~

Alrighty then, looks like it's time for your battle!

They all jumped again. *snicker* You guys are so easily spooked! It's just me, god! You should be used to it, I was only gone five minutes, literally!

"Shuddup! You do jump up randomly sometimes!" Scarlet said. Meh.

Now come on Lance, Dax, go to the stage! Go, go, go! "Alight, alright, god Authoress…" Lance said, standing up. Dax stood up without a word, confident smirk on his face as he walked to his side of the field. Lance sighed once, "Wish me luck."

"You'll do fine! But good luck anyway," Scarlet said. Lance just gave another sigh and then went to his own side of the field.

~X~X~X~

**_Stage…_**

Lance's hand was rested on a Poké Ball, can't remember which, he's one of the ones who just puts them back wherever… doesn't help me at all. Anyway, he gripped the ball as Dax grabbed one of his own, both preparing to throw them. Lance knew that Dax's line up mimicked that of his relatives on his father's side, he'd seen him with at least three of their Pokémon, a Roserade, a Vibrava, and Absol. Thanks to some of his own observations, and a few comments he had heard passed by Auberon, he also knew he had a lot of his Blackthorne Blood's style of fighting, with some from his mother, creating a slight different style of his own. He didn't know how much of his battles, if any, Dax had seen or paid attention to, but he knew he likely didn't know his fighting style any better than he did the elder's.

But he guessed he'd just have to wait to see.

"Dustox, come on out!"

"Roserade, curtain."

The two poison types appeared out of the red and white spheres, the grass appearing surrounded by pink petals, the bug by sparkles. Both stared at each other, the Grass with arrogant pride and the bug with simple confidence.

"Start this off with confusion, Dustox!" Lance ordered.

"Magical Leaf," Dax said, as calmly as usual.

Magical Leaf fired off right before Dustox took control of Roserade with Confusion, stopping its movement. Lance didn't bother getting confident, seeing the attack he knew could not miss heading at his Pokémon, cursing mentally that his attack had not worked quicker.

The grass type attack hit the Dustox, forcing the concentration it must have for Confusion to fade and freeing the rose Pokémon from its grasp.

"Now, Sunny Day," Dax said simply.

~X~X~X~

"Oh boy…! That is not good!" Scarlet said as she watched the screen showing the battle. Crystal looked to her confused.

"What's so bad about a simple move like that?" Crystal asked. Scarlet turned to her.

"Last time I was in a battle with this guy, he used Rain Dance. It was bad enough for me with Asher being on the field, but as it effectively changed the weather… he could use Weather Ball," Scarlet said, touching Asher's Poké Ball, "It came out as a big ball of water, nearly killed Asher it got so close to its tail…"

"But what does that mean here…?" Crystal said, still struggling to get it.

"Think about it, Rain Dance made it rain, changing the weather to something that would cause a water move, a super effective attack against my Pokémon. Sunny Day makes the sun shine brighter, so that would turn Weather Ball into…"

Crystal's eyes widened in realisation at the exact moment that Lance's seemed to do the same, though Lance's reaction was quickly followed by a hiss of a curse through his teeth.

"A Fire ball…"

~X~X~X~

"Dustox, you stay in the air and you make sure he can't get a clear shot at you, keep moving!" Lance called. Dustox nodded, flying back high into the air, keeping both eyes on the land-based poison type.

The sun had flared up bright now, if Dax used the move they all knew he likely would it would definitely be a fire type attack, and likely a very strong one at that.

"Psybeam, Dustox!" Lance ordered.

"Petal Dance."

The circling petals shot out, but only surrounded the Psybeam as it began heading for Roserade, not destroying it. Lance was instantly confused, surely it would make more sense to get rid of the super effective attack heading for Roserade right now, but he was quickly righted when Dustox had to hastily dodge the petals and the attack heading for the other Pokémon was stopped by a wall of petals Roserade had formed, causing Lance's points to drop. Lance cursed again.

"There is no way I am going to win this… But… the least I can do is beat this Roserade enough that it can't be used next battle; it must be his strongest… make it easier for him to be beat by someone else…" Lance muttered to himself, "Scarlet needs this ribbon more than me at least; if this guy can be beaten by someone else… then that'll help… Time to give up on the looking good and just beat this thing to the ground…"

"Magical Leaf."

"Psybeam!"

Dustox fired the beam as fast as it could, slamming it into the Roserade as she fired back with her own attack, which Dustox didn't even try to avoid, knowing it wasn't possible, but after a hasty order from its trainer, Psychic took over Dustox's eyes and stopped the leaves in mid air, turning them around and sending their focus to the Bouquet Pokémon.

Roserade recovered effortlessly from the returned attack, and following another order shot of a series of glowing green pellets in a bullet seed attack. Dustox nimbly dodged each one, and followed it up with a Psychic attack which threw Roserade into a wall. Dax now realised what the younger trained was going for, and smirked lightly.

"Weather Ball."

Lance's eyes widened, he was using that already? He was certain that would be his trump card, nothing but something to scare him into trying something before it could be used, was he wrong?

~X~X~X~

"I thought as much… Dax is good at strategy too it seems…" Auberon said, leaning back more into his chair, "Basic, but still it works."

"What?" Kathryn asked.

"Normally in a battle like this, an attack like that would just be used as something to threaten the opponent into doing something that could be their own downfall, so Lance was being careful not to do that so he wouldn't fall into the trap. Thing is, he's now fallen for the _real_ trap, letting down his guard down enough that Dax can land that hit and finish this battle before Roserade can be hurt," Auberon explained, "Did no one else notice he just went into Trainer battle style to hurt Roserade then? He's trying to cause enough damage to stop him from using her in the rest of the contest."

"You really are gifted with strategy, aren't you?" Lucy said. Auberon shrugged.

"I have an ex-gym leader as a dad, you pick things up," Auberon said. Modest much? "Shuddup authoress," Take a compliment where you can get it from me, okay?

"Hey, I just thought, on the subject of family…" Indigo started. Um, we weren't, he just mentioned his dad, "Shut up, Authoress," Will do… "Anyway, won't Aunt Gemma be close to birth soon, Jas, Nevee?"

"Oh yeah!" Nevee beamed, "Our baby sibling will be here soon! Whoop!"

"Right…" Jaspa said. Indigo nuzzled his side a bit, knowing that he wasn't as happy about the baby, because he knew what would happen to it in ten years time.

~X~X~X~

"You be ready to dodge!" Lance ordered, as the ball of fire formed between the two bouquet like hands of the grass type. Dustox prepared himself, ready to move at the slightest second of notice, when something happened completely out of the blue.

"Restrain with Grass Knot, don't let him dodge," Dax said. Eh…?-!

"What the…? Is he an idiot…? Dustox can't be affected by that…" Lance said. Everyone around the stadium was having a similar reaction, and the judges perked up in their seats, intrigued.

The tell tale blades of grass formed and looked ready to link, when suddenly, unlike the attack was meant to be, it shot up into the air and wrapped in a tight knot around Dustox's body, holding it in place in the air.

"What the hell?-!"

"It's just a little something I worked on with her," Dax smirked, "Now, fire that Ball."

Lance cursed loudly as the ball was fired, shooting through the air and hitting his Pokémon full force, making Dustox cry out. As soon as the fire faded, Dustox was obviously out for the count, eyes swirly and covered in burns.

"**And it looks like this battle is o-…**" Lillian began before being cut off by an explosion. Oh what now?-! I did not plan anything more for this chapter than this battle!

"Well, we don't stick to a script! Mwhahahaha!" A female voice said from the smoke. *head-desk*

~X~X~X~

"Isn't that…?" Auberon said, sitting up quickly.

"Oh man, Team Rocket now?" Indigo said, standing and leaning on the railing, "I don't have any of my Pokémon on hand!"

"Me either… I left them to be healed…" Auberon said, "God dammit! Anyone else got Pokémon?"

"I only have a couple with me anyway, and both are with Joy…" Hotaru said.

"Mine are in my room…" Lucy said.

"Mine are healing as well, Sorry…" TJ said. Everyone else came back with a similar reaction, except for Jaspa, who stood up.

"I brought mine, they were still on my belt this morning, and I didn't take them off… I guess I better get down there… no one else in here would know to fight back against these idiots," He said, putting a foot on the banister. Indigo bit her lip, he'd likely have to work with Dax down there, and she just hoped that he really did believe her lie, so he wouldn't end up making any rash decisions.

You be careful, nerd boy!

"Shut up," Jaspa said simply, before jumping down to the stage.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket mark 3 had already gone through their stupid little motto, and grabbed the unconscious Dustox and Roserade with two giant arms, as per their usual schemes. Dax had grabbed onto another Poké Ball, whilst Lance had been hit by the arm during an attempt to stop it, meaning he couldn't get up and was stuck on the floor, unable to help.

"Dax!" Jaspa called as he ran over, Poké Ball in hand. Dax turned his head, hiding a smirk, to see him.

"Jaspa, right? Come on, we have to free them now; I take it you're the only help I've got? No offence meant of course," The teen said, letting out his Absol.

"Yes, I am. Only I remembered to bring my Pokémon today," The ginger haired boy replied as he let out Ivysaur, "Let's just get this done, these guys are nothing but pests."

"Couldn't agree more."

"Razor Leaf!"

"Razor Wind!"

Ivysaur and Absol gave each other a small nod; then both fired off their sharp attacks, spinning leaves and knife-like blades of wind alike. They cut off the arms, but taking down the balloon itself wasn't so simple, a shield formed up around it to stop it being hit.

_Dammit… my strength could break through that, but not in front of all these people…_ Jaspa thought, teeth gritted. He looked at Dax, who had a similar perplexed look on his face, not happy with the situation but not knowing what to do. Jaspa began seeing a side of Dax he wasn't sure he had before, which I personally am not sure if it is because of what Jaspa now believes/Dax's act, or if it's to do with a certain something not being in control…

"We're just going to have to throw all we've got at it, I think," Dax said after a moment. Jaspa nodded.

"Hahahaha! You're not getting past this! We thought ahead this time!" Gwen laughed. Jaspa sighed.

"They will never learn… Ivysaur, Razor Leaf Full power again!"

"Shadow Claw, Absol!"

~X~X~X~

"Man they're rather a team aren't they? Didn't expect that off them, Jaspa never seemed to give Dax a good piece of his mind…" Scarlet said as she watched the screen break, letting them get to team rocket, sending them blasting off again. Oh gee, you just noticed that Jaspa didn't like him? "He doesn't like most people…" …I'll give you that…

"…Wait, the contest hall wall has been blown up, how can the contest carry on?" Crystal pointed out.

"**Due to this disturbance, the contest will be continued tomorrow, outside! Sorry for the inconvenience!**" Lillian announced.

Well, that explains that then! Alright, contest tomorrow then. Everyone, move out!

"I hate it when you're in the sky…" Scarlet groaned. May giggled by her side.

~X~X~X~

"So we might be going home soon, right?" May said, "Or, at least back to big brother? And I can see my parents too?"

Gem tucked her into the bed, ruffling her hair a bit, "I think so, yes. But who knows, it all depends I guess," She said, smiling as May patted her hair back down again.

"Yay, I'm glad! You wanna get back to see big brother, right?" May beamed. Gem gave a small nod.

"I guess so, yes… we're good friends, and I was worried, so going back would be good," The authoress said, as she stood from the bed edge, "But I could manage for a while if I really had to…" _Lying to a kid to save embarrassment now? Man you're becoming right pathetic…_

"Oh. You were really worried and stuff earlier though…"

"I know, but I would've managed, trust me, kiddo."

"Okay Gemmy," May said with a yawn. Gem giggled.

"Go on, sleep now, you've gotta wake up rather early if you want to see the rest of the contest tomorrow," The current teen said, tucking her in more. May nodded, laying down and curling up.

"Good night Gemmy…"

"Good night, May…"

Soft snores were soon heard, and Gem sighed as she sat on the sofa, running a hand through her hair then resting her head on both hands. Sure, she felt better now, knowing he was safe, but there were only so many distractions someone could have to keep their mind off something, and even knowing he was currently safe, didn't give any reassurance for whatever he was getting himself tangled up in whilst they were gone.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Yay! Chappppter! It's a minor miracle! Hopefully next chapter should be out sooner than this, I've kinda got an idea for a Gem-Centric chapter, it's not full but I'll improvise. It'll be an early chapter for my birthday, though it's not gonna be birthday themed… but I won't be able to get out anything proper for my birthday, so it'll have to do. **

**And I need a bit of luck transmitted from all you reading now, I have an assessment, which goes toward my final grade for my GCSE, coming up on Monday in English… it's Creative writing, so it should be rather easy for me… but I'm nervous. Luck would be very helpful…**

**...I really should make a Livejournal or something for my shouldn't I? So I don't have to spout everything I have to say in the Authoress note...**

**R&R!**


	59. Ep 58: All that's remembered

**Me: Alright, Gem-Centric chapter coming up, time to get some explanations about her AL-linked past. Not sure exactly how it'll go yet, but *shrug*. There's a new theme in this chapter too, whatcha think of it? And chances are, the flashbacks in here are purely for the AL-SR link DtF version, not actually in DtF.**

**Episode 58 – All that's remembered**

_"Nate! Hiya!" A younger Gem called, she looked no older than twelve years old, as she ran over to a boy who looked a lot like Nathen that visited us in the special, but younger, sat on a bench. He looked up, a barely noticeable pink tinge on his cheeks, and smiled._

_"Hi, Gemma, good sleep?" Nathen smiled. Gem nodded and grinned, sitting down beside him._

_"Yep! Woke Holly up when I got up though, she doesn't want us to wake her up properly until nine o'clock," The girl giggled, "But she should be fine I think, even if we do wake her."_

_"She always is, as long as she doesn't try to burn us when she does," Nathen chuckled._

_"So, what do you want to talk to me about? Its rather early, even for you, to call me outside to speak," Gem said, shifting a bit and subconsciously rubbing the birthmark she had on her arm. Nathen grabbed his own through his shirt from instinct._

_"Well… it's about what we're going to do now, now that the League and Grand Festival are over… I know we've been talking with Holly about it, but it's something I want to ask you personally…" The elder boy said, grabbing one of her hands. Gem tilted her head a bit, locking her fingers with his._

_"What is it then? Is it something that important?" She asked, failing to notice Nathen's cheeks had become pink, and his grip on her hand was tighter than usual. _

_"Yes… Gem… I was wondering… if…" He'd subconsciously leant in close, and his voice had dropped to a whisper as if it were some big secret, he was too nervous, "if you'd continue journeying with me, alone… and… I… I…"_

_Gem's face was deep red from him being so close, and she was wondering exactly what he was going to say, feeling her hopes rising, when suddenly…_

_"__GEMMA! NATHEN! HEEELP! HEY, GET OFF!" Another shriek was heard right after these words, and both Gem and Nathen instantly jumped back from each other out of shock, looking toward the small inn they were staying in. It was their friend, Holly._

_"Th-That was… oh crap! We shouldn't've left her alone!" Nathen said, conversation quickly forgotten as he jumped to his feet. Gem felt a pang in her heart, the interruption was so horribly placed, "We better get back in there, now!"_

_"R-Right…"_

Gem groaned in her sleep, turning a few times, before her eyes snapped open, and she sat up. She was laid on the couch, May still asleep in the bed in the room, and it was pitch black. It could only be the early hours of the morning, possibly earlier. She sighed, leaning her head on her hands, before slamming it against both fists several times.

"Why did I have to dream about that now…? I'd calmed down earlier… this is pathetic… _I'm_ pathetic… Ugh… I should go do something to get my mind off this… but what…?" Gem sighed, fingers digging into her scalp, "Everything I'd normally do would only remind me more…"

She stood up, and heat sensing sight she managed to walk out of the room without bumping into anything, grabbing her black military jacket and putting it on, she hadn't changed out of her clothes before falling asleep. With a sigh, she walked downstairs. Hot cocoa would probably go her good right now.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
_****_Everything's changing every day,  
_****_Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
_****_Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
_****_Friends old and new,  
_****_Stronger enemies too,  
_****_Everything's different this time around,  
_****_It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!  
_****_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

Shivering, Gem wrapped her hands around the warm cup, taking a sip. She forgot how cold Sinnoh nights could get, but this was helping at least a little, so she'd manage, especially with her inner heat.

"I shouldn't be having dreams about it; I'm supposed to be trying to get over him, not thinking about things that will only make me fall harder for him… It just fills my head with 'what if this' and 'what if that'… as if anything would've changed even if he had had his chance to tell me, nothing would be different… after all of what I've been through fate is not so hard to believe in… everyone's on their path for a reason… I was never meant to be with him," Gem sighed to herself, taking another sip of the warm drink, relaxing as the feeling of warmth seeped through her, calming her just a little.

Sighing again, she finished the drink up and looked around, there were few people awake at this time of the morning, and the few that were, were people setting up the contest later that day, or people who wanted to get in some more training. Messing her hair a bit, she stood up and walked outside; wondering if training could get things off her mind, it usually did.

It was even quieter outside, so no one should notice if she was training out the back, "Training will calm me down… yeah, it will… it always does… and it means I can get a bit better at fighting, so that if anything happens in AL, I can fight back… or if anything happens here… then I can fight here too…" Gem said to herself, clicking her fingers as she walked out behind the Pokémon centre, where a training dummy had appeared.

"Time to see if I've actually still got it…"

Shedding her coat and clicking her fingers again, she changed into some more appropriate training clothes, simple tracky bottoms and a training vest, with some gloves that stopped her from burning anything up too badly. She threw her short hair up into a small ponytail, and switched her glasses for a pair of contacts. Flames flared up around her wrists and ankles, and she allowed her eyes to go to the proper deep red of her implant. Taking a huge breath, she started by firing off a fast Flamethrower, something that had taken her a while to learn.

It slammed into the fireproof training dummy, almost knocking it over, before Gem ran, jumped, and spinning in the air kicked the dummy in head, landing on the floor and then kicked out diagonally backwards to hit it in the chest. Turning to let the leg land safely on the floor, she threw a punch and knocked it hard in the head again, then jumped up straight and kicked sharply at the chest. She flipped backwards and landed safely on the floor in a crouch, panting a bit. Grabbing one of her hands with the other, she hissed in pain, realising she went about the punch all wrong and had hurt her fist.

"Dammit… I used to be better than that… I can barely remember the last time I fractured my hand that way…" Immediately as she said this, she regretted it as more memories flowed into her head.

_"No, like this," Nathen chuckled, holding Gem's fist with his hand, trying to position it right to punch, "And stop putting your thumb on the inside, you can really hurt it that way, you need to keep them on the outside," He instructed, opening her hand then closing it back into a fist with the thumb on the outside._

_"I am so never going to get this… Do I really need to know how to punch? I can kick just fine, and I've got my fire attacks anyway! They take up my hands!" Gem whined, hiding a blush from his hands being wrapped around hers. _

_"We both know you can only manage a few fire attacks in a row and with your height your kicks and only do so much damage. Though, I guess against any male you could probably make them fall to their knees," Nathen said, chuckling as he said the last bit, and ruffling Gem's hair. Gem stuck her tongue out at him, playfully swatting at the hands wrapped around hers._

_"Watch it or I'll test that theory out on you!" She threatened playfully, grinning. Nathen laughed; then shaking his head he positioned her fists again. _

_"Take another shot at the dummy now, okay?" He said, taking a step back. _

_Gem nodded, then glaring at the wooden dummy, she held her fists tight and brought it back to punch forward with as much force as she could, starting to imagine that the dummy was a certain Existence member, before lashing out and slamming her fist full force into the head of the dummy, letting out a yelp of pain quickly afterwards, grasping her fist and hissing, "Shit that hurt!"_

_"It must've if you're swearing… Let me look, Gem," Nathen said, gently coaxing her to let her injured fist go and taking a look, "You angled it wrong, and you let your thumb slip back inside your fist again! You just broke your thumb, _and_ fractured your knuckle… Man you punched that something fierce, who's head were you imagining this time?"_

_"Maybe it was yours!" Gem hissed, gritting her teeth in pain. Nathen sweatdropped, letting a blue glow cover his hand as he touched hers again._

_"Alright, I get the message, heal my hand before I kick you, got it," He said as the blue glow covered her hand too, healing the broken and fractured bones of her hand. Gem sighed and relaxed as the pain went away, some of her own white aura joining his before both faded, "There we go, all better."_

_"Thanks Nate… man, I am definitely perfecting this now if it means avoiding breaking my hand every five seconds…" Gem sighed, flexing her hand a bit. Nathen laughed, playfully kissing the hand better._

_"Come on then, let's get you perfecting this then, I bet you that you can't get it before Lunchtime," Nathen said. Gem grinned._

_"You're on!"_

Sighing, Gem let her now totally red aura coat her hand to heal the fractured bones, sighing. She didn't know exactly when her aura had changed from the pure white it had been during her time with Nathen, it had always been red around the edges, but before it had only ever turned red when she was truly enraged. She guessed it must've changed when the pureness of her heart flowed away, when she began constantly lying to keep her past secret, and when she just grew plain angry with the world.

"I'm surprised he hasn't noticed the change… guess he didn't think anything of it or something, it fits my current personality better than white did… I'm not a pure soul anymore, that's for sure…"

Gem stood up again, hand now fully healed, and looked at the dummy. She sighed, it was good to test what she still remembered and what she could do, but if she wanted real training she needed something that would fight back and block her. Clicking her fingers again, a small device appeared: something that had much the appearance of a hand-held game.

"Alright, time to see if this invention of mine actually works… Training Module, activate."

A holographic appearing image then appeared in front of her, the basic figure of a human appeared, with simple hair, features and clothing.

"_Activated_," A voice similar to that of items like Dexter said.

"Challenging mode," Gem said, closing her eyes and letting the handheld device in front of her scan her head, searching for something in her brain. The device was created to form a physically touchable image of an opponent that would fight back at different levels of skill to help someone grow in talent in fights. Challenging mode was a setting where it would scan your mind to find an opponent that it would be hard for you to beat, letting you fight against a simulation of them so you wouldn't get hurt, but so you could still work to beat them.

"_Challenge selected_."

Gem had several possibilities for what the device may have suggested in her mind, and was mentally preparing herself to fight any one of them. The machine whirred for a moment as the figure changed appearance slowly, and Gem kept her eyes on it the whole time. Then, as soon as its transformation was done, Gem let out a deep sigh as her face fell into a humourless smile as an equally humourless chuckle rose up her throat.

"Of course it'd be you…" She said, voice dry, "My hardest opponent, the one I never stand a chance at beating… not only because of your nearly unbeatable strength, but because I can't bear to lay a finger on you…"

"_Well, at least the machine did its job_," The projection said in a perfect Nathen impression. Gem sighed, letting her hair down from the bobble and cracking her knuckles.

"Of course, it mimics personality too to make the most realistic fight you can get without real injuries… perfect… well, might as well finish this quickly, it's not like I'm going to be able to beat you even as a solid hologram…" The authoress said, getting into a battle stance. The Nathen imitation threw his 'jacket' to the side where it immediately disappeared, and got into his own battle position, "And even if you are a hologram… don't you dare go easy on me because you're my friend, or because I'm a girl…"

"_Wouldn't dream of it_," The simulation said, flames flaring around his lower arms. Gem flared up her own flames again, and then with her usual style of just going for it, she ran in with a punch readied. 'Nathen' didn't even move, staying in his position. Then, right before the punch connected, he grabbed her hand, and twisted her arm behind her back. It had all the effect of a real person doing the manoeuvre, but without the pain it would normally cause. Gem gritted her teeth, then thinking fast she jumped up in the air, flipping nearly totally upside down to kick the simulation hard in the face, flinching to herself, before cursing mentally at her stupidity.

'Nathen' stumbled a bit, but righted himself quickly, firing off an 'Aura Sphere' at Gem, which she blocked with an aura shield. She knew her Fire attacks would be useless in any fight against Nathen, whether it be this simulation or the real him, but maybe a distraction would work.

"Flamethrower!"

The fire shot out of her hands in a less concentrated beam than usual, hiding Gem from view just enough for her to take a chance and run at him as he blocked the attack with an shield of his own, waiting for the exact moment the shield was let down and then repeating the same moves she had used on the dummy earlier. However, right as she went for the kick to the chest, 'Nathen's' faster reflexes grabbed her by the ankle, making her lose her balance and have to steady herself by putting her hands against the floor in a handstand like stance. She tried to jerk herself out of the grip, but he was too strong. The simulation's knee jerked up and hit her in the stomach, knocking her out of the hold and onto the floor. Again, no pain was felt from the attack itself, but the landing caused Gem to feel the same winding effects she would've if she had been fighting for real.

Grunting, she sat herself up, building up aura in her hands, then jumping to her feet and deciding it was about time she used her favourite kick to get him at least in the chest. She wasn't that far from him, even after the knee, so she easily threw her leg up high, past her own height, and slammed into his chest and cheek. 'Nathen' fell back, landing on the ground, Gem just imagining the thud that would normally have followed. She was surprised she'd landed the kick, but then realised 'Nathen' hadn't used any of his strongest techniques, he'd only used one aura move, and he'd barely touched her at all with any normal attacks either.

"I said not to…' cough 'go easy on me…" She said as she tried to sling in a punch from the right, hand quickly blocked, then tried to get in a kick, also blocked. Her balance stayed intact though, and the stretching in her muscles from the position was a welcome feeling, knowing she still had the flexibility she had worked on.

"_Who said I was?_"

"The fact you've barely even scratched your Aura Arsenal…" Gem said simply, before jerking her other leg off the floor and sweeping it around to slam him in the side of the face, then back-flipping away, landing safely on her feet. 'Nathen' stumbled again, then, steadying himself, he fired off an Aura Pulse, which Gem narrowly dodged with a jump high above the ground.

"That's more like it…"

She retaliated swiftly, throwing an Aura Dagger to try and catch him off guard. The semi-transparent weapon passed right beside him, him dodging by taking a simple step out of the way, before Gem had to block a Pulse. Using an Aura Blast as a cover, she then ran in and swept a side kick into his ribcage, then ducking under his legs before he could hit her back.

"One advantage to my height…" She said, smirking as she slammed another diagonal kick to his shoulder blade, then landing safely, back to him. Then, Gem swore loudly as she realised her mistake, trying to turn around to block before he could land a hit, but not being fast enough, feeling herself be knocked over by a hard attack or kick to the back, followed by another attack which probably would've ended the fight if damage had been being caused.

"_I think you've lost that one. Though you probably aren't that surprised, right?_"

"Of course I'm not surprised, I was never going to stand a chance at beating you… you and I both know that… god, how sad am I, talking to a simulation…" Gem sighed, standing up and grabbing the device, turning the simulation off and sending the item back to her authoress room, along with the training dummy. She clicked her fingers to change back into her simple clothes and slipped back on her jacket, looking up at the dark sky, "Will I ever get over this? I thought I could… but I'm starting to doubt even I can fix myself this time…"

~X~X~X~

About an hour later, though it could still be only around four in the morning, Gem was sat up on the Pokémon Centre's roof, not looking down. Her eyes were stuck to the sky, counting the stars and quietly singing to herself.

"_I will wander till the end of time torn away from you…_"

She sighed, but it was a calmer sigh than before, not annoyed, just relaxed. Singing calmed her, even if she didn't believe she was any good at it, and her favourite band made the singing even more relaxing.

"_I pull away to face the pain,  
I close my eyes and drift away,  
Over the fear that I will never find,  
A way to heal my soul,  
And I will wander till the end of time,  
Torn away from you,_" She sang softly, sighing again and leaning back more on the roof, eyes closing.

"Penny for your thoughts, Authoress?" A voice said from behind her. Gem jumped, sitting up and looking behind her, relaxing when she was greeted with yellow eyes.

"Oh, Jaspa… it's just you, god, you scared me! You're really way to quiet!" She said, gripping her heart in mock shock. Jaspa let out a light chuckled, and sat down beside her after walking over.

"Well, it could have been due to the fact you were singing," He pointed out. Gem went red.

"Oh crap, you heard that?-! Never speak of it to anyone, ya hear me? It's embarrassing!" She said. Jaspa chuckled.

"Your secret is safe with me, big mouth. But honestly, what's up? You sounded rather depressed, if you don't mind me saying," The young half-vampire said. Gem sighed.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong. I just felt like some time outside on my own, to look at the sky and get away from it all, is all."

"It's the middle of the night, there's hardly anything to 'get away from'," He pointed out, "Don't make me wake Nevee and make her tell me what you're feeling," His face was dead serious with this comment, and Gem sweatdropped.

"Alright, alright, fine… but if you tell anyone I will personally reveal your own secret, okay? That's how big of a deal this stuff is to me recently," The authoress said. Jaspa tensed, and Gem swore she saw a tiny flash of red at the threat, but then he calmed and nodded with a sigh, promising, "Thank you… not many know this… and the only reason I can tell you now is because I know you're not the kind to tease and pick on me…"

"I'm more mature than the other idiots, that's for sure… Indigo and I are likely two of the few who wouldn't tease…" A small smile formed on his face when he spoke his friend's name, and Gem couldn't stop her own smile when she noticed this, "So come on, what's troubling you? Something about this boy?"

"Yes… it's about him… I may be older and I may act like I know stuff, but I'm not as good with romance as I thought I was it seems…" Gem sighed, "Do you have any idea how to get over someone?"

"…I've been trying that too, it's not easy… I think once your heart is set on someone, it'll take something huge to make you stop trusting them enough to stop loving them too… but that's only if your heart is _truly_ set on them, if it's just a crush or something, then…" Jaspa shrugged his shoulders, a move you wouldn't usually see from the knowledgeable boy.

"Well, looks like my heart's set then… because no matter what I know about him and no matter what there is to put me off, I can't get rid of this feeling… I wish it was just a crush…" Gem sighed.

"Ah, I see. It's that kind of boy trouble."

"What do you mean 'that kind'? I'm pretty sure me talking about romance gave it away fairly early this was about love," Gem said, giving him a look. Jaspa shook his head.

"Bearing in mind I can also see into your head, I can get more than you've told me. You haven't seen him in a while, right? Didn't remember your feelings? Something along those lines?"

"You're annoyingly accurate…" The implant sighed, resting her chin on her knees, "Yes, its along both of those lines actually… I've seen him, I 'met' him for the 'first' time in Shrubhill City, Pokoh, with my two charges that are in that story, Amber and Trayton… but when I got to Icepeak, he reminded me of my past with him… how he had travelled with me when I was young…"

"…Wait… travelled as in Pokémon world? I was thinking this was going to be something to do with this 'Animal' world you live in…" Jaspa said as his eyebrow rose, confused. Gem sighed.

"I don't… actually come from the Animal world… Jaspa, don't ask too much, please. I've explained half of my past to some others recently, and I don't to repeat everything…"

"I won't pry; just say what you're comfortable with."

"Geez, when did you become such a people person?" Gem said jokingly.

"Only to some."

Gem gave a small laugh, then sighed, "Well, the quickest way to give the gist of the first half of my past… is this…" She flared up the flames on her wrists, watching as Jaspa shuffled slightly away from natural fear of the fire, "Freak out all you like. I know it's strange. But don't think I'm going to burn you, I won't."

"Why would I freak out? Gem, if anyone knows what it's like to be a freak or to feel like one, it's me," the half vampire said sincerely, putting a cool hand on her shoulder, removing it quickly after the extra heat hurt his skin, "How can you do that? What's different about you?"

"When I was ten, I had the DNA of my most loyal Pokémon implanted into mine… he… died… and I was left as a freak…" Gem sighed, putting the flames out and leaning back against the roof, "I ran away from the people who did it to me, and Nathen found me… saved me from myself and for a long time, from them…"

Slowly Gem began to explain everything, the basics, of what had happened during her time with Nathen, about Holly and her other friends, about 'them' (she refused to tell Jaspa exactly who it was) and about TUA, she explained the Monoko region and explained about how she and Nathen had properly been reintroduced, and what that had stirred, and what had happened since then. Jaspa listened silently, allowing her time to speak whatever she had to get off her chest just like she would them when they had major issues. He wondered why she would start something and skip it every now and again, like some of the causes of her sudden stress, but didn't interrupt. He had promised not to pry, so pry he wouldn't.

Gem sighed as she came to the end of most of her talk, resting her head on her knees and looking with slightly lost eyes at the floor beneath the building, ignoring how dizzy it made her to look down from such a height.

"I see… that's… gotta be hard… It's hard enough for me knowing Indigo doesn't feel the same, but she hasn't got a boyfriend or anything to make it worse…" Jaspa said.

"I can't blame him or Alice, it's great to see that he's found someone that really makes him happy, but of course it just makes me jealous. I have enough negative feelings as it is, I wish envy wasn't one I had to add…" The authoress sighed, "But it's hard not to feel jealous when someone you love is with someone else."

"I know. Well, no technically, I don't, but still, you get my drift," Jaspa said. Gem smiled a bit, nodding, "I guess how you split ways makes it harder too, right?"

"…Yes…" Gem sighed.

"What actually happened? He sounds plenty strong from what you've said about him, and you must've been rather strong. How come you didn't get out of that base together?" The golden eyed boy asked. Gem exhaled, curling her knees to her chest.

"I was stubborn, that's what. I… *sigh* It'll be easier explaining it fully…"

_"No, Gem! We can both get Holly and then blow the base up, you don't have to run off to the main generator room on your own!" Nathen said, dressed in black and orange, hands on Gem's shoulders as she looked up at him from underneath a black cap._

_"Nathen, we've been spotted now, almost everyone is looking for us or soon will be. We don't have enough time to go off to the same place, we have to split up. You can get her out of here quickly, then I can blow the joint and find you, okay? I'm quick enough, okay? Even if I'm not the fastest, I know what I'm doing and I can manage this, just trust me…" Gem assured, poking his nose, "I know I was scared earlier, but I'm over that now, I can manage. I promise you. I won't fail. I know this place better than you do, the cells are simple to find and access with the right acting, but getting into the generator and control rooms are a lot harder. I know the passwords and everything, let me do this."_

_Nathen didn't look very happy about the whole thing, he didn't want to let Gem do this for fear for her safety, but he knew Gemma was not going to back down on this, and he could not stop her, "…Fine… but you call me through aura the second things look like they're going the wrong way, got it? Then I'll be right there, I won't let you get hurt!"_

_Gem giggled lightly, "Don't worry about me so much, I won't get hurt, and I know you're only an aura call away. I'll keep telling you I'm alive too, just to make sure, alright?"_

_"Alright, alright. But if you're hurt I will never forgive myself…" Nathen sighed, moving his hands down to grab hers, then wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Gem wrapped her arms around him too, burying her face against his chest, "Don't ever, ever let yourself do anything stupid, you hear me?"_

_"I swear it…" Gem said, snuggling more against him, then looking up. Shyly, and so fast and light that neither could be sure it actually happened, she leaned up and stole a feather soft kiss, prior to letting him go and running off with a bright pink face. _

_~X~X~_

_"Back… b-back off…" Gem said, stepping backwards a few steps until her back was pressed against a generator. She swore mentally, this was the last position she needed to be in right now. The aura type implants in the room were totally blocking her already limited aura channels, she couldn't contact Nathen, and her fighting could only do her so much good. She'd rigged the generator to blow up in ten minutes, it was deadlock sealed so no one in the room but her could fix it to _not_ explode, though they just didn't seem to get the message about that. They weren't letting her through to turn it off, and if she didn't fight her way out of there soon she was a goner. _

_"No. We better report you to Brett, you're his little project, he can deal with you," One grunt said. Gem tried to jerk her leg up to kick them, but someone had knocked it down roughly in an instant. She held in a yelp when it hit against the hard metal of the generator, and cursed under her breath. How could she get out of this one? Her physical fighting wasn't good enough, her fire attacks weren't all that strong, and her Aura, whilst strong and rare in colour, was not easy to manipulate. All her Pokémon were with her mother, Rylee's Poké Ball had been sent back to Fir and Pine with a quick trick from Nathen, meaning not even her Pokémon were an option to get out of this situation. _

_5:03… 5:02… 5:01…_

_She was screwed. _

_4:50… 4:49… 4:48… 4:47…_

_Gem leant against the generator, closing her eyes. She wasn't sure if she'd be killed by these idiots, or if by the explosion that they could not stop. She could only pray that Nathen and Holly had gotten out safely, and that Nathen could forgive her for breaking her promise and ending up dead. She didn't want him to hate her. Even if she wasn't around to know he did._

_4:00… 3:59… 3:58… 3:57…_

_They still hadn't given up on the countdown, and stopping it. Gem knew she had to get out still, she had to at least go down fighting, but she just didn't know how. She continued to think about Holly, and about Nathen… lots about Nathen. And especially about that feathery kiss she had stolen before running off, wondering if it meant anything to him or if it was just nothing, if he felt the same or if he didn't. Feelings began to build up inside her heart, and unknown to her something inside her was changing slowly. Filling from the very centre of her chest outwards, her red aura seeped to join the red that hovered around the outside of her figure, and new energy focused around the birthmark on her arm. Everyone's eyes around her widened, and she didn't see why. _

"I'm not sure what exactly happened after that… I remember a great power release, I stopped all the grunts and other agents in the room… but the joint still blew up… it lost me my memories, and after that all I remember is running away again, thinking I was back escaping from the base for the very first time, and not looking back…"

"You really are more than just a simple author aren't you? All of us see you as a girl from another world, strange, ever so slightly annoying, nothing more than that… But there really is a lot more to you than meets the eye…" Jaspa said, eyes slightly widened.

"Coming from the one who's secretly a vampire," Gem said playfully, nudging his arm.

"People could guess that or joke about that being the case rather easily with half a brain, Authoress, with my parents' histories… luckily for me very few people have that half a brain, or if they do they don't waste it on me," The young vampire said. Gem nodded with a small smile, "Honestly though, don't worry about all this anymore, tell people. I won't spill your secret to anyone, but one day everyone will have to know about your past," he continued. With a sigh, the author nodded, standing up slowly so as not to tumble off of the roof.

"I know. But I would much rather keep it secret for a little while longer, at the very least…"

"I under-…" Jaspa began, before suddenly cutting off, his eyes going slightly glazed. Gem tensed immediately, whatever this meant it could not be good.

"Jaspa? Strong, what the hell is wrong?-!" She exclaimed. Jaspa was still for a moment, before looking up at her.

"…Something's wrong. Something's going to happen, any minute now, with someone something to do with you… it's not Indigo, Scarlet, Auberon, or others like them, I would've felt a stronger warning… its someone more closely linked to you than me…" He said, face serious. Gem's eyes widened in horror. There was only one person in the story that was close enough linked to Gem alone for Jaspa to feel this.

May.

Without even another word Gem jumped off the edge of the roof, catching onto the rim of it before she could fall to the ground, and then swinging to land on one of the balconies. Jaspa pushed for his physical abilities to come through, following her movements. The authoress had jumped from the balcony she was on to the one on the floor below, stumbling a bit from her dizziness at the height she was forcing herself to jump from. She used her aura to check the room to see if it was her and May's, finding that it wasn't, then jumped to the balcony beside the one she stood on, repeating her search. When this wasn't the room either, she extended her aura sight to find the right room, spotting it and then jumping over three balconies, head spinning, to reach the right one.

She was relieved to find she had left the door slight ajar, and pushed it open swiftly, looking in.

Her eyes widened immediately.

~X~X~X~

**_A few minutes previous…_**

"My god, look at that, Niamh!" A familiar male voice said from one of the trees outside the centre. Niamh turned her head to face Weston, wondering what the big deal was now.

They were on a mission to stake out the Ketchum girl here, with no instructions to capture her. She knew they'd handle bigger Ketchum targets first, so she knew Scarlet was safe for a little while yet… unless someone had prime chance to grab her and take her before it was her time to be officially targeted.

"What is it Wes?" She asked. Weston pointed to a room in the Pokémon Centre.

"Use Aura and look in there, I can guarantee you'll be shocked," The UA elite said, leaning against the tree's trunk. Niamh was confused and a bit worried about what she might see, but pointing her wand at the room and then closing her eyes, allowing herself to see the room. She scanned around, then found her sensitive aura sight near blinded by a bright aura, a pink so light it appeared white.

"My… god…" She said in awe. Niamh truly was stunned, she had thought having her own pink aura was rare enough, but such a merge… or even being a merge at all! Pink, the attracter Aura just like hers, and white, the purest but one of the two rarest auras out there. Only black aura was a rare as White, and whilst white was not as easy to recruit or as sought after by UA, white was still a target when seen, especially in a situation like this!

Niamh was immediately worried for the poor owner of this aura, who knew what Weston wanted to do now he'd spotted this rarity? Subsequently, she began to see the size and shape of the owner more clearly as the blinding effect disappeared, alarmed when she found it was a young child.

"Well well, isn't that just perfect timing?" Weston smirked, "We have order to capture any other target we see worthy for examination and admission, and I doubt I've seen a specimen that perfect in my life! Sure, the white makes her hard to transfer, but she's young, and children that age are open to suggestion."

"I guess that's true… Though bear in mind at first I was not happy about all this, and I myself was only a child," Niamh pointed out, hoping to got she was being subtle in her attempt to stop him taking the child.

"Purer the heart, the more they want to please people. If we can make some of the 'sweeter' team members get close to her, then it should be plenty easy to make her do what they tell her to, then we can covert her," Weston smirked, obviously satisfied with his idea. Niamh bit her lip, wishing she didn't have to keep her act up, but nodded in agreement.

"Very well, she appears to be alone, so it should be easy to take her I suppose," She said in her darker tone, slowly standing. Weston was up quickly, the tree barely shaking a leaf at the movement.

"Good. Now, let's get into that room, should be simple enough," The elite said, hopping down a couple of branches, causing just as little movement as his standing had, to be level with the appropriate floor's balconies. Niamh jumped down with a little less grace, but not enough to attract attention, even from those on the roof above the height of this tree. Weston clambered over onto the balcony, helping Niamh over, then smirking seeing the balcony door had been left open, "Just as I thought, simple."

"Alright then, let's get in and get this over with if it's so simple then," The female elite said, stepping toward the door. Weston nodded, and pushing the door open silently he stepped inside, letting in Niamh and then closing it to the exact position it had been before he moved it. Niamh stepped into the room, and walked toward the bed holding the six year old girl. Weston was beside the bed silently after only a moment, making Niamh nearly jump in shock, she still couldn't get over how speedy he was whilst still being silent.

The child silently stirred in her bed, eyes flickering open, focusing and seeing the two strangers in the dark. Her eyes widened and she sat up, shuffling back against the bed, scared, "Wh-Who're you?-!"

"You don't need to know that yet, kiddo," Weston said, stepping toward her. Niamh bit her lip, she wasn't sure about this, but stopping him would definitely be grounds for punishment; which she could not afford. May tried to get up and run off, but Weston was faster, grabbing her and restraining her easily.

"L-Let go!" May cried, trying to struggle out of his grip. Weston held firm, smirking.

"Get off her!"

The instant the new voice echoed through the room, the two UA members' eyes were on the door, seeing Gem standing there, shaking in either fear or anger, or maybe both. The slightly less nimble Jaspa slipped onto the balcony then ran into the room soon afterwards, standing behind Gem.

"And you are?"

"Gem Ashmore, that little girl's temporary guardian whilst she's here! Now you let her go before I have no choice but to beat the living crap out of you!" Gem snarled, fists clenched, forcing her flames not to light for fear of maybe scaring May or even just giving away who she was linked to.

"You can't do that without harming the girl," Weston smirked, "Hm, that name… Our researchers found something about you," Gem tensed, "You're the one leading that Ketchum descendant around this region with her friends."

Gem instantly felt some of her relax, knowing they had yet to find her record in TE's database. She hadn't had chance to delete it, and her hacking was not good enough to get into their computers anymore. But she was still stiff, scared, and determined to get May out safely. She'd promised Nathen she'd look after May, and now yet again she let her own worries over him get in the way of something much more important, staying on guard of the young girl.

"So? Just let the girl go, and maybe I'll spare you! I know enough to get her safely from you before smashing your head in!" Okay, maybe she was letting her violent side out a bit too much now, but she couldn't help it, whenever someone close or precious to her or someone she cared about was threatened, she couldn't help but wish to slaughter the person harming or threatening them brutally.

"Oh right, we're so scared," Niamh said calmly, though inside she was panicking, _Authoress… this girl has something to do with her… crap… does she recognise me? Does she know who I am? She won't blow my cover will she?_

"Shut it, bitch!" Gem snapped. Niamh flinched, guessing she likely didn't know who she was, or was just too annoyed to care, Gem would know enough to know that Niamh wasn't evil, she knew that much.

May was scared, both of the captors and of how angry Gem had gotten, so far Gem had only shown her sweeter side to May, she hadn't seen how riled up and irate Gem could get when provoked in situations such as these. Gem could see the fear on her face, but the heat of the wrath building up inside her. She'd made a promise to a good friend, and having that broken by more of her own stupid mistakes and by one of the teams that had caused her hell just made her want to snap.

"May, don't worry, I'll get you free, I swear!" Gem said as calmly as she could manage. May whimpered, but nodded, trusting her still, even if she was scary right now.

"Authoress, calm down a bit, please!" Jaspa said. Gem gave him look, and Jaspa shut up, taking a step back.

"You can't stop us, tiny, we're much stronger than you, and you don't know where our base is," Weston smirked. Gem was surprised to hear a mutter of a location on the aura channels, and had to avoid staring at Niamh so that she didn't give her away, "You're not getting her back, she's going to be one of the prize agents one day, I can bet."

"Keep dreaming, jerk…" Gem growled, fists clenching again. Weston smirked, tightening the hold on May and then forming a tight aura rope around her, making May let out a small yelp of discomfort. Gem's fists tightened more, nails digging against her palm and the fight to keep her flames down starting to become a rough struggle, smoke starting to appear around her wrists. Her restraint was wavering, she didn't know how she could hold the fire back anymore, wanting nothing more than to use her – hopefully – good aim to burn Weston to save May, but she was too scared to hit the girl. But as the rope only tightened, she couldn't stop the burning on her wrists from lighting up into bright flames, giving her away in an instant.

"My my! That is deeply interesting…" Weston smirked, "It looks like I'll be paying a visit to our Existence branch somewhere in the next few days! Niamh and I are on a role here, an escapee and such a rare specimen in one night!"

"Don't… you… dare!" Gem snarled. She couldn't take it now, threatening not only the girl she had been trusted to look after, but now her too, threatening to end up dragging her back into hell once again.

That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

Suddenly Gem felt different, something in her chest suddenly began pulsing, and she felt a bit dizzy. Unknown to her, a bead of white had appeared right in the centre of her red aura, right in the middle of her chest, and was beginning to pulse outwards. Her aura turned slowly pink from the centre outwards, getting lighter and lighter, shade by shade, getting so pale it began appearing white. Then it all stopped, the aura pulsed back to red for just a few moments, before…

Gem let out a sharp gasp, anger near forgotten in the midst of a sudden shot of sharp, dagger like pain in her chest, as the aura that had changed once already suddenly pulsed roughly and the whole of her aura turned into a bright white again.

"Gem? Gem?-!" Jaspa exclaimed, confused at the sudden blankness in Gem's eyes.

Weston didn't think to close his eyes to see what had just happened, he just smirked, satisfied she was zoned out and no longer an annoyance to him and Niamh. Looking to the blonde girl beside him, he nodded and received a nod back too, though Niamh was hiding more worry for Gem than she let on. In a flick of Niamh's wand, the two disappeared, right as Gem collapsed down to her knees.

"Gem!"

Her eyes were totally zoned out, her breathing slow but there, her body shaking. Then without any more warning than this, Gem fell unconscious.

"Gem?-!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: What's this? A chapter so soon? Yay! I worked a lot on this in the few days since the last update, it came easy, and I was determined to do it. I have a lot of homework to do in the next couple of days though, so the next chapter may not be this fast, though I'll try as hard as I can to do it! Promise!**

**R&R!**


	60. Ep 59: Battles of All Kinds

**Me: And this chapter's a mix of the battles that are next up (Eep, better decide that quick…), and what Gem's gonna do about May being kidnapped. So… the battle might not be that good, sorry, not that they usually are anyway, but *shrug***

**Episode 59- Battles of all kinds******

**"Last chapter, some of our increasingly mysterious authoress's past was revealed to the readers, the young May who recently temporarily joined the group was kidnapped by the same agents who had taken Jasper. And, it seems something has happened to Gem…"**

"Wh-Where am I? L-Let me go! I-I have to be with Gemmy! I don't want to be here!"

"Calm down kid, it's okay," Niamh's voice said. We focus on a small cell like room, set up with a surprisingly normal and comfy bed and other items that May might need, the basics.

The girl looked up; then seeing it was one of her captors she backed off a bit, hiding in a corner, "G-Go away!"

"Kid, I won't hurt you," Niamh assured, glad that she could pass off her kind behaviour as 'adjusting' her to the new life so she would later obey them, like Weston had explained and planned, "I'm here to help okay? I'll be looking after you so you don't get hurt here."

"Wh-Why should I trust you? Gemmy obviously didn't like me having to come with you when you snatched me, so you can't be good people! A-And, an-and… you look like the ones who tried to take me away from big brother before too!" May said. Niamh was a bit confused at this, as far as she knew and had looked into this girl had not been captured before, though she didn't have total clearance and could not check everywhere. Then again, with her being linked to Gem, who knew where this girl was even from?

"Honest, you can trust me. Promise," Niamh said, going toward her and slowly kneeling down to her level, putting a hand on her shoulder. May felt slightly calmer, she could feel there was something about her different than the man who had grabbed her, and felt she could trust her, just a bit.

"…Okay…" May said, slightly hesitant. Niamh could nearly hear Weston's satisfied snicker, but little did he know that Niamh's act was not an act, she was genuinely going to make sure May was safe from everything until Gem could help her out of there.

So giving the girl a hug, she whispered so low the cameras wouldn't pick it up, "I'm on the good guy's side, I don't want to be here, just like you… but I can't escape… you can truly trust me… I… I know Gem."

May's eyes widened a bit, but hearing this and feeling as if there was truth to it, she decided she could trust her for however long she was stuck here.

Though she did hope it would not be for long anyway.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,_**

**_It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!  
Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

Gem's eyes flickered slightly as she finally woke up, eyes revealed to have turned into a light red, as they began to flick around the room, blurry without her glasses. She could tell she was probably in her room at the Pokémon centre, however, and then recalling the events of the previous night, she jerked up in the bed before feeling a sharp pain in her chest and collapsing back down with a grunt.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't move!" Lucy said, running to her side from just across the room, where she, Hotaru, Scarlet, Jaspa and Indigo were sat on the sofas. The others all perked up now they were alert she was awake, Scarlet standing to reveal she was in her contest outfit ready to run off at a moment's notice, the contest was due to start in an hour.

"I-I have to… I have to get up! I have to f-find May! Now!" Gem said, forcing herself to sit up despite how much pain she felt, all through her body.

"You can't get up; your aura's gone through an extremely stressful change! We're barely even sure what's actually happened, Gem! You can't move or you could cause yourself some serious damage!" Lucy said, pushing her back down again as gently as she could. Hotaru stood and walked over, grabbing a glass of water from beside the bed and slipping a small pill into it.

"Drink this, it'll keep the pain down for a little while, it won't get rid of it, but it'll help," She said, helping Gem take a sip.

"I-I have to go! You can't m-make me stay down!" Gem said, trying to push to sit as soon as she'd moved the drink away.

"You wanna bet? You can't force us with anything right now, your Authoress powers would take more energy out of you in your state," Lucy said, giving her a stern look. Gem growled weakly, before coughing.

"Is she going to be okay?" Indigo asked, standing up, Jaspa peering over the back of the sofa. Scarlet walked over, holding her eyes closed for a second to look at Gem's aura for about the hundredth time since she'd entered the room. She still couldn't get over the shock of the change of colour the feisty authoress's aura had gone through.

"She should be, after some _rest_," Hotaru said, giving a pointed look at Gem as she emphasised the last word. Gem grumbled, straining up to lean semi-upright against the back of the bed.

"I got the message… g-gods' sake… I-I have to go th-though, s-soon! O-Or May… sh-she'll…" Gem bit her lip. She was worried about the girl, extremely worried. She'd promised herself, May, and Nathen that she would not let the girl be hurt and would _never_ let her fall into TUA's hands, and she'd broken that promise.

"You won't be able to move on your own or very far for a good two days, Gem, one of us or one of your Pokémon will have to carry you when we're on the road. You can't go off to a TUA base to find the girl now, it'd only result in both of you getting killed," Hotaru said, sighing, "We'll send someone as soon as we can to help her, okay? Tomorrow, probably."

"I have to go…" Scarlet said, "The contest is going to start up again soon, I need to be ready for my first battle… _Sorry I can't be of any help Authoress, but I need this contest and I can't really tell the others about my Aura training yet…_"

Gem gave an understanding nod, just about picking up the aura message over the channels, despite how weak she felt. She hadn't planned on asking for any help from the other aura users anyway, it was too risky, this was her problem and her problem alone.

"I'll come now too, Scarlet…" Indigo said, glancing to Jaspa, "You coming?"

"In a minute or two, Indi," He said, patting her hand. She smiled at him, ruffling his tidy hair and then letting Scarlet grab her wrist as they exited the room to head off to the city's central plaza where they would now be holding the remaining battles after yesterday's… explosive end to the first battle.

"Didn't know they cared…" Gem mumbled before coughing again, covering her mouth. She pulled her hand away to find a mucus like substance on her hand, though it was slightly tinted with some blood and didn't seem to actually be anything natural.

"Ugh, that'll be aura waste product…" Hotaru grunted, disgusted, helping her clean her hand off, "I've only ever seen one case of that happening, and that was only after someone survived an 'accidental' curse mark activation that wasn't stopped 'til their aura had so little left that the body was forced to drive the old aura out and replace it… Nearly killed him anyway in the end, since his life force was shoved out and all…"

"Thanks for the cheery thought…" Gem said with heavy sarcasm, coughing again, this time making sure she covered her mouth with a tissue, "How long is this going to be happening…?"

"Considering your aura changed near instantly, it shouldn't be for too long, it's just getting rid of whatever of the old aura was left… man, you're too unique for your own good, Authoress," Lucy said, sweatdropping.

"I'm sorry I wasn't of more help last night, Gem," Jaspa said, walking over. Gem managed a weak smile, waving a hand dismissively.

"It's fine, Jaspa… it's not your fault… I did practically tell you to back off, and even I couldn't do anything… It's not your responsibility either, so you don't have to be sorry…" The author said, shaking her head, "Go on, go with Indigo and Scarlet, I'm fine, and…" she bit her lip again, "the problem about May can be sorted… l-later…"

"If you're sure…" He said. Gem chuckled weakly.

"I am… now go."

Jaspa nodded, pausing then walking out of the room to catch up with the other two, shutting the door behind him. Gem sighed and leant back against the bed more, hissing a bit as another pain shot through her chest, and she coughed hard again, the substance mixed more with blood this time.

"Just perfect…"

~X~X~X~

**_Contest Location…_**

"So how is she?" Nathen asked as Indigo and Jaspa joined them in the make-do seating that had been set up. Scarlet had ran off to one of the nearby buildings which had been turned into a temporary contest lobby for the contestants, the contest itself ready to start in about twenty minutes now.

"She's not in her best state, that's for sure… she can't even move without nearly doubling over in pain," Indigo said as she took her seat.

"She seems more worried about May than herself though," Jaspa added, sitting beside her, and glancing at Nevee who of course was not taking the tension or worry everyone, especially herself, was feeling for the authoress and the visiting child well. TJ was trying to comfort the girl, though of course he couldn't completely understand how she was feeling. Not even Nevee herself did.

"Probably because she doesn't know when she's going to have to take her back to that guy that came here the once," Auberon said, leaning back in his chair. Jaspa nodded.

"I think she just plain cares about the kid too, she's a sweet girl, we all have to say that," He said.

"That's true, she is a sweet little kid," Kathryn agreed.

"But what's she going to do about it? She can't move, and Lucy and Hotaru are the only aura users here, and they can't risk going into a base, can they?" Kira said. All the group by now had been told the basics about what was going on with Team Universal Aura, except for the things that had to be kept secret, like the aura training and some other of the links to TUA.

"Who knows… she keeps trying to get out of bed to do it herself, but Hotaru and Lucy are making sure she doesn't. Apparently with whatever happened to her, she could cause herself damage…" Indigo said, giving a light sigh, "Poor her, she's seemed rather out of it lately, hasn't she?"

"I guess, I didn't think much of it myself, it's not like she's not strange anyway," Auberon said with a snicker. Nevee subtly jabbed him in the side with her elbow, though other than Auberon, and perhaps Jaspa, no one noticed. Auberon didn't even realise it was her, so he was pretty darn confused, rubbing his ribs. Jaspa gave a tiny chuckle under his breath.

"Who's up first again?" Kira asked.

"Crystal first," Lance said, sat with them after his defeat against Dax the previous day, "Then Scarlet. Wonder if either of them will get Dax next round if both get through…"

"If they don't, they'll be against each other, and one of them will have to eliminate the other…" Nathen said, "It'd be an interesting battle I bet, the two's training was entertaining to watch, but it'd be too bad if they had to eliminate each other."

"Thing is, no offence to either of the girls, but I don't think they could beat Dax… Scarlet's chance of using Asher if he uses Roserade is eliminated because of the Weather Ball attack, so she'd be back to using either Pika or Bunny," Lance said. Auberon sat up again now, going into strategy mode.

"Bunny probably wouldn't be able to win against most of his Pokémon, she's better at the appeal rounds from what I've seen so far of her, Scarlet hasn't trained her as much as she has Asher, and she doesn't have Pika's immediate strength. Even with Ice Beam against Pokémon like Roserade, she'd be stuck on the others, and it would take a lot to win and probably be too risky…" He started, "Pika… her electric attacks wouldn't help against Roserade, though against Prinplup she might be okay… though Dax isn't stupid enough to use Prinplup when he's seen her using Pika in the Appeals."

"What about Crystal?" Kathryn asked. Auberon shrugged.

"Well, she's got… Glaceon, Piplup… any others?"

"A Quilava, and a… Staravia right now too," Nathen said. Auberon thought for a moment.

"Well… Against Roserade, Glaceon, Quilava and Staravia could normally have an advantage… but Weather Ball also cancels out the first two there, and Staravia probably isn't at the right kind of level to get in strong hits whilst also making its attacks look good, which would be a disadvantage… Against Prinplup none of them would have an immediately advantage, it'd take a lot of work she couldn't afford… Absol… well, again, no immediate advantages… and I think Absol's one of his strongest… if he used Vibrava… then Glaceon might stand a fighting chance, and maybe Piplup too, but still, it all depends…" Auberon spouted, some of the group struggling to keep up with him.

"Honestly, if you could use that brain power for other things you'd be a plain ol' genius…" Kira said with a sweatdrop.

"Strategy is way more important than maths, science and English for a Trainer, and besides, I listened enough in those lessons to pick up anything I'd need to analyze Pokémon in battle anyway. I've got all I need," Auberon said with a grin.

"You're quite the strategic genius, I'll give you that…" Jaspa said in a quiet voice, chuckling lightly. Auberon didn't seem to hear, but a small smirk formed on his mouth right after Jaspa spoke, making the young brain-box wonder.

"So basically, they have to go each other, or the one against Dax has absolutely no chance?" Lance summarised. Auberon nodded.

"That's the gist of it, yeah. Unless one of them can pull off a miracle against Dax, their only individual chance is to go against the other," The elfy boy said, leaning his arms on his knees, "We'll just have to see how this pans out. Because if one goes against Dax and loses, and the other wins their battle… chances are we know the outcome of the final too."

~X~X~X~

**_Pokémon Centre Room, during Scarlet and Crystal's first battles…_**

Gem groaned, half paying attention to the two battles playing on the TV in the room. Lucy and Hotaru were sitting by it and taking turns in checking on Gem, giving her pain relief and trying to make her comfortable, and Gem had plain had enough of it. One, having people waiting on you was a total drag when all you wanted to do was punch them and get out of bed. Two, she couldn't stand doing nothing and leaving May with TUA any longer. It just wasn't going to happen, she had to find some way out of there, for the little girl's safety.

She kept her eye more on the two on the sofa than the contest, only registering Crystal's win against the other coordinator, noting it in her brain for when she could be bothered to think about it more. She didn't pay any attention as Scarlet's battle began, keeping her eyes directly on the two and only flicking them away when they looked at her or came over to her bed. Gem knew manipulating aura for such a menial task was a waste, so she had to think of some other way to get rid of them, or at least distract them for a while.

Moving one arm, she subtly lit up a flame on her fingers, and with a soft click she made it big enough to throw over toward them. It seemed to set the rug in front of them on fire, though it was in fact only an illusion. It was still enough to send Hotaru and Lucy into a moment of confusion an panic, however.

"Holy shit where did that come from?-!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping up. Gem smirked to herself, and whilst the two were clearly distracted, she forced herself out of the bed, shoving a few pills down her throat and gulping down some water to try and dull the pain the movement caused her. Shakily she got onto her feet, and pushing past the pain ran over to the balcony doors. Lucy and Hotaru had yet to notice, so, so far she was in the clear. She opened the doors quickly, stepping out to the balcony, and precariously clambered onto the barrier, holding it tight with her hands, then swinging down to land on the balcony below, and the same again to get to the floor. Her hands hurt like hell after it, and she had to stretch them for them to open back up from the curled shape she had used to hold the barrier. 

_God this is so inconvenient…_ She thought to herself, wringing her hands, _My aura's changed before, and I never felt anything like this… then again, that was much slower… and part of my aura was red anyway… this time it's a total, instant change… I'm so confused…_

Another loud cough broke out, and Gem covered her mouth again, grunting at the horrid feeling, shaking her hand to get the gunk away. She hit herself in the sternum to try and clear her chest, and then looked around. She'd been given the location by Niamh, sure, but that didn't mean it'd be easy to find it… especially without her aura sight. Plus… she'd forgotten to take her Poké Balls. She didn't even have that help.

Sighing, the authoress pushed herself again to run as quickly as she could manage from the centre, dodging around town to avoid the others seeing her out of bed, which meant she had to take the longest way to the forest. It was hurting badly with every step she took, but she'd suffered worse pain, she was sure… or at least, that was what she was convincing herself to keep her going.

As soon as Gem reached the forest, she leant against a tree a few metres in and panted for her breath, wondering what to do next. She had to use Aura Sight to work this out, it was her only chance. But was her aura up to that? She didn't know, she wasn't sure her body could do this in its current state. And what about an outfit change? It was a menial part of her Author powers, but would it still cause too much energy loss?

"You know what? Screw it… I'm using them and it doesn't matter what it does to me… I have to find May…" Gem said aloud to herself, closing her eyes and looking around the forest with her aura sight. It was strange seeing everything in white again, and it wasn't anywhere near as clear as it would normally have been, but she could see a building, only about a half mile into the trees, where there was a collection of strong aura signatures. It wasn't big, it could only be a tiny base, but it was definitely the one she was looking for.

She could see, somewhere in the base, there was a bright aura signature, the lightest pink and white merge. That had to be May, no other aura was the same as that.

"G-Got her… Ugh!" Gem clutched her chest, bending over slightly, pain shooting through her again, "Shit… can't… can't use aura too… t-too much… or I'll have no strength to fight anyone off…" She said, gasping for breath for a moment. Then, clicking her fingers, she changed her clothes, to a simple black military jacket a lot like her normal one, a purple blouse beneath it, and black jeans on her legs, purple boots beneath them. A hat was on her head, hiding her face, so she wouldn't be recognised, "I can still stand… alright, that's something I guess… time to… just do this… I have to, even if it hurts me physically…"

~X~X~X~

**_Back at the Contest: Battle Match-Ups_**

"Thank god we both go through… but this means either we face each other now, or one of us ends up against Dax…" Scarlet said, sat on one of the chairs in the make-shift lobby. Crystal nodded, looking up at the TV screen they were now using to show them the battles, and to announce what battle match ups were next.

"And if we're against each other, we have to hope that Dax gets beaten by the other person, for the other's sake…" The white haired girl said, hands clasped on her lap.

"Yeah… man, this may not end well…" Scarlet said with a sweatdrop, "I sure hope it turns out the good path, even if it means we have to push the other out of the contest…"

"Same here… well, let's see."

"Good luck girls," Dax said from his seat just across from them, smiling. They both gave a smile back, "Where's the little girl by the way?"

Scarlet sighed, "Someone grabbed her last night… we're… not sure who," It probably wouldn't be best to tell everyone about TUA, she guessed, even if Dax was Indigo's brother.

"Oh, I see," Dax said, "Well, I hope she turns up safely."

"Same."

"**And now, times to announce the next round's battle match ups!**" Lillian finally declared, making the remaining coordinators in the lobby look up to know who was against who, "**The first battle, will be Scarlet Stone-Ketchum, against…**"

Scarlet tensed a bit, waiting to see if she had Dax, Crystal or the randomer, so she would know her own and her friend's fate in the contest. Biting her lip, she kept her eyes on the screen.

"**…Crystal Peirce!**"

Scarlet and Crystal weren't sure if the sighs they then let out were sighs of relief or sighs of dread, or maybe they were both. Both knew that they had a chance of getting through to the next round now, unlike if they had been placed against Dax, but both also knew they would have to eliminate their friend to pass through.

"**This of course leaves Dax Sketchit against Artie James! The first battle will begin in five minutes, so the two participants should report to the battlefield immediately to be ready!**" Lillian announced, making Scarlet and Crystal perk up even more, Scarlet getting to her feet instantly.

"We better get going then… Ah man they could've given us more time…" She said, making sure she had all her Poké Balls. Crystal checked for hers, and stood too.

"Well, the contest is running late, I guess they just have to hurry more," Crystal said with a shrug. Scarlet sighed.

"Who knows… let's just get going!"

"Right."

~X~X~X~

**_Seating Area…_**

"Alright, so currently the best case scenario for them individually is happening…" Auberon said as the match ups were announced, "But the result of the second battle is the most important for both of them…"

"Yeah, that's true," Indigo said, leaning against Jaspa's side. She tried not to be tenser than usual, still determined to have him never learn her new lie, she didn't want him to be angry with her or anything. This was the only way.

"Hey! You guys!" They all turned, to see it was Hotaru who called them, followed closely by Lucy. They both had to struggle past all the people who had turned up to watch, but eventually got to the group, panting a bit.

"What's up you two? Shouldn't you be with Gem?" Lance asked. Lucy sighed, panting still.

"That's just it… she managed to distract us and she's ran off… we can't track her, we're too unfamiliar with her new aura…" The purple haired girl said, hands on her knees.

"She honestly could _really_ hurt herself if she moves too much in her state! And to get into that base she'd have to use _Aura_ on several occasions, finding it, getting inside, searching the base… her aura is not up to that!" The ex-commander said in a dead serious tone, "She could really do herself some damage, as in _life threatening _kind of damage."

"We have to help her then, find her!" Indigo said. Hotaru sighed.

"We don't have any idea where she's headed, we can't find her quickly without knowing her aura well so we can hone in on it, we'd have to search every inch of forest and city here to find her, it could be too late by then," Hotaru said, "She's honestly putting herself in that much danger…" _Scarlet's got the strongest aura here, she could probably do a wide sweep to find her, but she's in the contest, we can't just pull her out, plus it'd reveal she'd had aura training… though since Aura sight is the most basic skill we could pretend to teach it to her if it really comes down to that…_

"Do what you two can then, get searching fast," Nathen said, _"I'd help, but… you know why I can't yet,"_ he then added with aura. The two nodded, and ran off, just as Lillian announced the start of the next battle, making everyone turn their eyes back to the makeshift battlefield.

Scarlet and Crystal both grasped their Poké Balls, grinning at each other and nodding, waiting for the cue to begin officially.

"**Let's get busy!**"

"Pika, come on out!"

"Glaceon, you're back up!"

The two Pokémon that they had both used in the appeal rounds came out of the Poké Balls, Pika surrounded by an Electric Seal this time, and Glaceon still surrounded by pink hearts. They both landed on the floor at the same time, on all fours, Pika's cheeks sparking.

"Alright, Pika start this off with an Electro Ball, and Thundershock!" Scarlet said.

"Use Iron Tail, then Icy Wind!" Crystal countered.

Pika's cheeks sparked more, and she charged up the ordered attacks, firing off the Electro Ball then shocking it with Thundershock, charging it more as it flew at the ice type. Glaceon's tail began to glow, and as the attack closed in on her she turned and slashed it with her Iron Tail, sending sparks everywhere, creating an effect that sent Scarlet's points down a bit. Then, the ice attack was released, and Pika had to brace itself for the cold, hissing lightly through her teeth.

"Charge!" Scarlet said. Pika nodded, then began to charge up her electricity, which in turn powered her up as well as warming her again after the icy air that had hit her. Scarlet thought through the other moves she had seen when she scanned her newest Pokémon with her Dex, glad that she had a wider move pool because of her heritage, "Now… go in for Thunder Punch!"

Moving up onto her hind legs, the Pikachu charged up electricity around her paw, then went to run at the Eeveelution. Glaceon waited for an order, then as Crystal called out for her to use Ice Beam, charged the attack in her open mouth and prepared to fire it. Pika ran at her, paw raised to throw the punch, but right before landing it found that her paw had been frozen solid in ice, halting the attack dead in its tracks, and then was thrust back by a tackle.

_I would use her best inherited move, but that's probably best as a trump card… just need to do an attack she can't block as easy, or get up close without her being able to hit her at the same time… ah!_

Remembering another 'borrowed' TM she had taken from the storeroom and taught to Pika, she called out, "Pika, use Dig!"

Crystal watched as the Pokémon burrowed underground, keeping an eye out for where it would come up. She knew it was likely just a way to get to the Glaceon, not to deal the hit with Dig itself, so the places it could come up were nearly endless.

"Be ready to dodge or counter, Glaceon!"

It was a minute or two more before part of the earth showed signs of stirring, and Crystal immediately ordered Glaceon to Ice Beam at that spot, which she did… only for Pika to pop up behind her and hit her directly with a Thunderbolt.

"Way to go Pika!" Scarlet grinned.

~X~X~X~

**_TUA Base: Entrance_**

"F-Fucking finally…" Gem groaned, barely keeping herself standing. The run there had felt more like a marathon than a measly half mile, even she could normally survive that. Her whole body was telling her that this was enough, that she just needed to collapse and rest, then go home, but she wasn't going to listen to it. She was stubborn. She wasn't going to let some pain stop her from saving the little girl, "Now… g-gotta open this damn door… it won't recognise my aura… so I better… better blow the lock… but I need to disarm the alarm first… where's that camera's blind spot?"

Slowly she managed to figure out where the blind spot was, and kneeling in it she focused on the alarm system just behind the door, eyes closed. Slowly she pulsed out some aura so it would disarm the circuits inside the alarm, smiling weakly to herself when it worked. The authoress just about managed to push herself back to her feet, heading to the door and putting her hand against the lock system. Ignoring how her chest was aching more than ever, she pushed a high amount of aura into her palm and overloaded the lock, making the door open.

Clutching her chest for a moment, she bit her lip and forced herself to stand upright, walking into the base and shutting the door behind her slowly. The corridor was empty, but it lead off to other rooms, which were likely where everyone else was. Gem closed her eyes again, giving a quick glance around to estimate the number of people in the base. She guessed around… twenty, at the most. It was obviously a very local and small base, May had probably only been brought here for convenience before she could be transferred to a larger base in Pokoh or something, they wouldn't 're-educate' her here.

Gem walked around, poking her head into a few rooms, getting glances but nothing major. So far so good. She hoped that none of them would end up realising that she wasn't one of the usual twenty or so. That was the disadvantage of this being a small base, everyone would know everyone, unlike if it was a huge base with loads of members in. To a lower down member she could say she was just a new recruit there or something, but anything higher up than a Soldier or maybe even a grunt would be told if a new member was coming to the base. This was going to be tough.

**_May's 'Cell'_**

Niamh was still sat with the girl, continuing to pretend to pretend to be nice to the young May, though of course she was _actually_ being nice. May was managing to smile, though she was still definitely scared and wanted to get out of there, wanted to go home, more than ever.

Then, Niamh tensed, she felt an unfamiliar aura entering the base, though it also seemed strangely familiar. Closing her eyes and gripping her wand, she allowed herself to see all around the small base, seeing all the familiar strong auras, most of natural blue with a few odd different ones. But one stood out, one that wasn't there before, a bright white aura.

The owner of this aura seemed to be limping as they walked around, and the person itself was rather short in height. It didn't take much for Niamh to put the pieces together, it _had_ to be Gem.

"Miss Niamh? You alright…?" May asked, confused at her sudden silence. Niamh looked to her, and shook her head.

"Oh, it's nothing kiddo," She said, ruffling her hair. May smoothed it back down, then tilted her head.

"Sure?"

"Yep, sure as sure can be," Niamh said. Then, knowing the camera couldn't read her lip movements from the angle it could see them right now, she mouthed to May 'I think Gem's here, shhhhh', then gave a wink with the eye the camera couldn't see clearly. May clearly got excited by a look in her eye, but she managed to keep calm so the camera wouldn't reveal that.

"Okay…" The girl said, leaning to lay back on the bed and just stare up at the ceiling, _Gemmy's come to save me… Yay! I… hope she's okay, when they took me, she was hurting…_

Niamh stayed sitting up, thinking to herself. Gem's aura was red when she took a glance before, so why was it white now? Was it something to do with how she seemed to be in pain? Had her aura somehow totally changed colour? She'd never heard of that happening, but then again… Gem was hardly normal.

~X~X~X~

**_Contest Battle: Two minutes remaining…_**

Scarlet's points were just ahead of Crystal's by the tiniest amount, and both Pokémon were still up to putting in a good performance. They were tired, panting, but they were still up to battling for a while yet, unless the other side got in a few hard hits it looked like this battle was going to go down to points.

"Quick Attack and Iron Tail, stop those ice shards in their tracks!" Scarlet called. Crystal had just ordered the fast ice attack, and Scarlet was still being quick to counter and try to get the other's points down. Crystal gritted her teeth a bit as the Ice Shard shattered and created an effect around Scarlet's Pikachu that dropped her own points a little.

"Alright, time to try that thing we worked on Glaceon! Icy Wind around yourself, and then Quick Attack!" The white haired coordinator ordered, Glaceon giving a quick bark of its name as an 'okay', then going ahead with the order.

The ice attack swirled around the Pokémon, creating a sort of cocoon that was constantly spinning around her, whilst still giving her space and agility to move. Scarlet's eyes widened when she saw it, wondering how much time she'd spent on that one, then quickly remember she had to come up with a counter for when she tried to hit Pika with the combo.

"Uh… Protect!" She wasn't sure how good at the defensive move her Pokémon was, but decided she may as well take the risk. As the beautifully spinning ball of icy air shot at Pika with Quick Attack, the green barrier was put up, just about holding for when the combination hit and then broke up, sending ice everywhere and making Scarlet's points drop to be level with Crystal's.

…00:59…

Scarlet and Crystal both gritted their teeth, Scarlet letting out a curse. They knew they had to drop the other's points somehow, and quickly, before the timer ran out. And it they couldn't, have back up by going for hard hits. Scarlet bit her lip, and whilst Crystal was still thinking, she got a quick idea.

"Pika, Double Team and Thunderbolt!" Scarlet ordered, "Surrounding!"

Pika got the hint, and using the Double Team attack she let her clones circle the Glaceon completely, whilst releasing Thunderbolt at the same time, meaning the clones all appeared to be using the attack right at Glaceon at exactly the same time as the true attack hit her. This creating a confusing but unique and intriguing image from above with several Pikachu seeming to be attacking the ice type in a way that made it look like a star of electricity from above.

Crystal's points took the hit too, dropping more as the timer began to close in on the end.

…00:10… 00:09… 00:08… 00:07… 00:06… 00:05…

Crystal sighed, realising there wasn't any way to save this battle as the timer beeped, signifying the end of the battle, and it was announced that Scarlet had won. Scarlet let out a cheer, hugging Pika as she ran back to her trainer. Crystal let out a giggle, shaking her head, she couldn't dwell, it's not like there wouldn't be more contests, and Scarlet did need to catch up, this gave her a better chance at that.

"Well done Scarlet!" She called over. Scarlet grinned and waved, calling back a 'Thanks! You did good!' to her.

"So, now it's all up to the next battle…" Auberon said to himself, leaning on his knees again, "If Dax wins, Scarlet's gonna have a rough time…"

"Too true… that was a good battle though, both gave it their all I'd say, and what Scarlet came up with on the spot there at the end was interesting," Nathen said.

"I think that's what Scarlet does best, coming up with ideas when she needs them most," Lance said. Auberon nodded in agreement.

"She tends to focus on certain things in training, getting their strength up and coming up with basic combinations, but I think her best ones do definitely come out when she needs them most, you're right Lance," He said.

"Here comes Dax and that Artie boy," Jaspa remarked as the two came out to fight, "Let's see how this goes…"

Indigo gripped his arm a little tighter from habit, thinking silently to herself: _Dax lose… Dax lose… And maybe an attack miss its target and hit him…_ She allowed herself a small smile at the thought of that, he may still be her brother, but… after his recent threats, she didn't give a crap.

~X~X~X~

**_Base…_**

Gem groaned, hid in a corner of the corridor now, leant against the two joined walls and panting for breathing, her body throbbing with pain, determined to collapse under its own weight. Gem had used her aura too much, she just knew it, they really were right when they said that her body wasn't up to it, but she couldn't wait. If they left it until the next day May could've been shipped off to Pokoh already, and she definitely didn't have the strength to teleport there, and there was no time for a boat all that way.

Her legs were shaking as she tried to force herself to stay on her feet, only planning a little break before trying to find the holding area without aura, but her legs didn't agree with that thought and gave out, making her fall to the ground on her ass with a small thud. Whimpering, she dragged her hands down her face, before staring at them and watching them quiver. Her whole body was quaking, she'd never felt so weak.

Due to this, she also failed to notice a hand sticking out from a staircase and flicking a wand, which temporarily put all the cameras on a loop of the seconds that the corridor had been empty, and replacing the film of the time Gem had been in there with the same footage. Niamh smiled to herself, she'd learned how to manipulate technology rather quickly with her aura, she used to have a _lot_ of spare time when they weren't testing her.

Stepping out, she looked around and spotted Gem in the corner, and saw how much she was shaking. Swiftly the 'attracter' ran to the authoress, and put a hand on her shoulder, making Gem jump.

"Don't worry, it's just me," She assured her. Gem sighed weakly in relief, panting a bit.

"Th-Thank the lord… wh-where's… wh-where's May?" The weak teen asked, trying to push to stand, but falling straight back down.

"I don't think you're in a state to move, Gem. I have no idea what's going on with you, but you're pale as hell, you're shaking, and you look ready to throw up," Niamh said.

"T-Then freaking help me move…" Gem said, glaring with her red eyes, which sent some shivers down Niamh's spine.

"Alright, alright… May's downstairs, I can take you down there, but as soon as you've got her and we're back up the staircase, you're on your own, I won't actually capture you but I'll make it look like I'm chasing you, and sound the alarm when you're out of the doors. You should be able to get away, this base is hopeless at organising quickly," Niamh said, putting Gem's arm around her shoulder and helping her to stand, "I have some painkillers somewhere downstairs, so they might help a bit," She added.

"Th-Thank you, N-Niamh…" Gem said, suppressing the urge to ask how much a help she could be with the Ketchums. She didn't want to ask too much of the girl right now, this help was dangerous enough for her if she was found out, let alone helping the enemy with TUA's largest case.

"No need, Authoress," Niamh said, slowly walking her to the stairs and then down them to get to May. Gem stumbled a few times, but the support from the taller girl was enough to keep them both on their feet. As they neared the door, Niamh flicked her wand again to make the cameras play a loop of her and May playing a couple of minutes ago, and then lead Gem inside.

May's head turned immediately, "Gemmy!"

"M-May…!" Gem said, sighing in relief, sitting on the bed as Niamh helped her. May hugged the elder girl, looking up at her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, frowning a bit, worried. Gem nodded, ruffling her hair, hugging her too.

"Yes, I-I'm fine… You? Of course you are, Niamh's been looking after you… You got lucky, May… I'm so sorry I let this happen to you…" The author said, sighing. May smiled.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. Something was wrong, right? And you weren't going to know… so it's not your fault! You tried, and you've come to save me!" She beamed. Gem bit her lip, before smiling and hugging her tighter.

"Thank you kiddo…"

"Here," The blonde then said, making Gemma look at her, "the pain killer," She finished, handing over a glass of water and some tablets. Gem took them, throwing a few down her throat like she had with the pills earlier and drinking the water. The pain didn't dull much quickly, but she felt a slight change.

"Thanks a lot, really, Niamh," Gem said, handing the glass back, "I owe you one…"

"No need, just get her out of here safely, I don't want her the subject of what I had to go through or worse," Niamh said, tone solemn. Gem smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's safe…" She said, then looking to May, "Ready to run for your life?"

"Yep!" May said, grabbing Gem's hand.

"One second, Gem, you need to go to the door, run in, grab May and then run, or the Cameras won't match up to what happens," Niamh warned. Gem nodded, standing up and managing to walk to being just outside the door. Niamh sat with May again, flicked her wand and then quickly went back to playing the game with her, waiting for Gem to make a move.

After waiting a minute more for the painkillers to kick in slightly, Gem dashed into the room, took May by the hand and then ran out of the room as fast as she could, painkillers dulling the throbbing enough for her to manage. May caught up easily, keeping her own hold on the elder's hand tight, making sure not to trip over.

"Hey! Get back here!" Niamh called, running after them. She didn't run too fast, slow enough that they could keep a good distance, and by the time they'd ran out of the doors a good few metres, she'd only just reached them. Waiting a few seconds, making it look like she was scanning for where they were going, before hitting the alarm and yelling out that someone had grabbed the new hostage.

~X~X~X~

**_Contest…_**

Scarlet bit her lip as she walked out to the final battle, hands shaking a bit, holding tightly onto her Poké Balls. Dax had won his last battle, she had to face him, again. She knew she didn't stand a chance, but she had to go down fighting at the very least. She could try her best; that was her way.

Dax was standing calmly on the other side of the field, holding his Poké Ball ready to throw. He called over a quick 'Sorry, Ketchum!', and Scarlet gave a small smile with a shake of her head.

"Dammit, the worst way the final could've gone…" Auberon said.

"Poor Scarlet, going by your strategy rant earlier she won't stand a chance…" Kathryn said, sighing. Auberon nodded.

"This time I wish I could be wrong about it though, I honestly do," The elfy boy sighed.

Hotaru and Lucy both began coming back over to them now, dodging through the seats quicker than before, going to them and standing beside them, trying not to obstruct anyone's view. Everyone at least glanced to them.

"Any sign of Authoress?" Nevee asked. Hotaru sighed, shaking her head, making Nevee's face fall a bit.

"Sorry guys, no sign, we just can't get a wide enough read in quick enough time… We need someone with stronger aura, they'd have a naturally wider range…" The ex-commander said with a deep breath, hand on her hip, "_Scarlet, can you hear this?"_

Scarlet picked it up, and replied quickly: _"If you mean the aura message, yes… why?"_

_"The only way to find an escaped Authoress is your aura sight… we need it, right now, or Gem could be seriously hurt. You won't have to reveal your training, we can just say we'll do a one of Aura Sight training with you right now so you can find her… but you may have to miss the contest._"

"_…I'll do it, that's more important than this… don't let Gem ever know I rated her over a contest though, ya hear me?_"

Hotaru let out a silent chuckle, _"Yes, I hear you_," Then she finished aloud, "Hey… wait…"

"What you go in mind now?" Lucy said, pretending to be oblivious.

"You'll see. Hey, Scarlet!" She called over to the raven haired girl on the battlefield. Scarlet looked over, making the judges and Dax look too, "We need you, right now! Gem's ran off and she's in deep crap if we don't find her soon, we really need your help!"

"What? You can't just pull her out of the contest!" Kira said.

"To be honest, we all know the result would only be a loss anyway…" TJ pointed out, which only got him a glare off the blonde girl.

"…I'll do it, whatever it is… But honest to Arceus tell her I chose her over this and I will smash your head in!" Scarlet said, shoving her Poké Ball back on her belt and running off the battlefield, turning half way off, "I forfeit, I have something more important to do," she said to the judges, before finishing the run to the group. Dax and the judges looked stunned, and Lillian barely managed the announcement as she was also shocked.

"Alright, thanks Scarlet. Look, we just need to tell you how to do the simplest aura technique, okay? Seeing aura. Close your eyes, and try and focus on what you could see before, but let your aura flow to your eyes," Lucy said, "Sorry if it seems we're rushing you, but we're running low on time."

"Its fine, I get it," Scarlet said, closing her eyes. She instantly got it, but waited a minute before nodding to say she'd done it, "Got it! Now what?"

"Concentrate, and try to scan around the forest area, you don't need to move your head, just think clearly and you can make it look where you need to," Hotaru said. Scarlet had heard all this before, so she quickly managed to start the search for the bright aura. It wasn't that hard to spot when she tried, it was just further out than the other two's range, and she could see two bright figures, both either white or close to it, near a tree about a third of a mile in.

"…I think I got them! A… third, of a mile into the forest, north west! I think I can lead you there from memory!" Scarlet said as she let her eyes snap open.

"Oh thank god… Alright, everyone else… um… Jaspa, Auberon, Nathen, come with us to the edge of the forest but wait outside it when we go in, the rest of you go back to the centre and wait, okay?" Lucy said. Everyone nodded, and stood. TJ had Nevee on his back as he and the others assigned to go back walked off, whilst the others stayed, "Let's go, now."

They went to walk away, when Mr. Contesta spoke up, causing Scarlet to turn, "Miss Stone-Ketchum! Wait a moment!"

"Yes, sir?" She asked politely, confused.

"When you return, we've decided to give you a ribbon, also. Giving up a possible win to go help someone that annoys us all… well, that takes some heart. You deserve it after all your hard work in the contest and for that," The man said, smiling with a light chuckle. Scarlet's eyes widened.

"Th-Thank… th-thank you! Oh my… I-I… I can't thank you enough!" _Holy shit! That is luck!_ She then thought afterwards.

"No need."

"Come on, let's go, Scarlet," Auberon said, smiling, glad for her. Scarlet grinned, nodding, grabbing his hand and running, ignoring the blushes that formed on both's cheeks.

~X~X~X~

"G-Gemmy? Are you okay? R-Rest here!" May said, slight panic in her voice. Gem had began shaking uncontrollably again, the effects of the painkillers already long gone despite how little time it had been. The six year old girl managed to help her to a tree where she fell to her rear again, back against the tree trunk and fists clenched by her side, clawing at the floor. The pain had intensified tenfold, she could barely even hear anymore. Her head was throbbing and her body felt like it was on fire. Ha, it almost felt like what Hotaru had described the feeling of the cursed seal was. But of course, it wasn't that.

"M-May… t-take m-my Poké-Poké Balls, m-my Cell, watch, an-and go back to the others… I-I can't walk back, and I'm n-not sure h-how much I-I can take of this pain… if N-Nathen calls, use my w-watch and go back to him…"

"N-No way, Gemmy! Everyone'll find us!" May said, trying not to understand what exactly she meant. Gem sighed mentally, she didn't want to have to tell her this, but she honestly felt near dead.

"O-Oh May…" Gem sighed, shaking more. May knelt by her, hugging her side a bit.

"You've saved me and helped me and looked after me when big brother has us here to be safe, you'll be fine, I know you will be, okay?" She said, giving Gem a look right in her eyes, childlike optimism in her eyes, as well as determination.

"Kiddo, you've got m-more faith than I have…" She said, ruffling her hair yet again, "K-Kinda like your brother…"

"Well you don't have enough faith then, because I know you'll be okay!"

Behind a small cluster of trees by the tree the two were at, a woman that could be no older than thirty four or thirty five was walking, and paused hearing the voices. She had long red hair, the ends shaped like the ends of Blaziken's head feathers, her eyes were brown. She was dressed in a blue top with a white jacket, and a black skirt, white socks and brown shoes. She perked up when the two's voices reached her ears, finding one of them familiar.

"Thank you, M-May… th-thank you…" Gem said, before letting out a pained cry, coughing up hard again, feeling more of the waste coming up her throat, quickly spitting it to the side, "G-God I pr-probably should've listened to Hotaru… b-but then you'd s-still be there…"

"That… voice… I swear it, that's…" The woman quickly turned and ran around the trees in the way, into sight of Gem and May, eyes widening when she realised she was right. There was no mistaking it, even in that uniform, "G… Gemma?-!"

Gem was instantly confused, her eyes weren't focused, and it took her a good minute to get her eyes cleared, allowing her to see the woman in front of her, which instantly made her aching eyes widen.

"N-No way… n-no w-way… H-Holly…?-!" She gasped, trying to sit up but only letting out a yelp. Holly had kneeled by her side extra fast straight after the yelp, helping her sit and trying to support her more, "Wh-What… a-are you doing here?"

"I'm on a vacation, away from being Unova Champion… my god Gem what've you gotten yourself into now?" She asked. Gem chuckled weakly.

"O-Oh, just this and that… total aura reset… p-pain beyond hell…" She said, coughing again, "Y-you?"

"I don't think now is any time for catching up, old friend… though one thing, you sure haven't grown!" Holly joked, giving a smile.

"S-Same old Holly… W-Well, I-I wouldn't've, I-I'm only… f-fifteen in this form… I-I'll… e-explain later, if-if there is a later…" Gem said, coughing hard again. Holly gave her a look.

"You're going to be fine, silly. Come on, you can't say you think this is it? You've been through plenty more," Holly said, "Just relax."

"Wh-Who's this Gemmy?" May asked, confused. Gem coughed once more, then looking back to the young girl.

"A-An old friend o-of m-mine, an-and of your brother's…" She said, panting for breath. Holly looked at May, then back again to Gem.

"She's… Nathen's little sister?" the elder said with wide eyes. Gem nodded.

"Y-Yeah… I-I'm looking after her… b-but…"

"So… have you seen Nathen? What's he up to these days? He alright?" Holly spouted before she could finish.

"Th-The N-Nathen I've seen isn't from this… th-this time period… h-he's back f-from… on-only f-four or five y-years after the sp-split…" The authoress said, putting a hand up on Holly's shoulder, the woman now clearly confused, "I-Its p-part of my e-explanation… I-I'll… t-tell you everything later… H-How… H-How've you been…?"

"Good, I've been good old friend… Living a pretty average life, husband and kids and all that… Unova Champion, that kinda stuff," Holly said.

"You know big brother?" May asked the other red haired female, looking up at her. Holly nodded, trying to tend to Gemma whilst still talking to the girl.

"Yep, he, Gem and I were travelling friends once upon a time… but we got split up, and I haven't seen either of them in a long time," She said, "Gem, where are you staying?"

"P-Pokémon C-Centre, V-Veilstone, w-with m-my other ch-charges an-and st-stuff… a-again, all ex-explained later…" Gem replied, eyes drooping a bit, "G-God th-this hurts…"

"This is enough, I'm getting you out of here, tiny," Holly said, scooping the small girl up and shifting her so she'd be as comfortable as she could be in the current situation. Holly gripped the side of her jacket, looking up at Gem, worried.

"G-guess it-it's lucky I-I'm so small…" Gem joked lightly, coughing again. Holly gave a smile, chuckling lightly.

"You're just the same as ever too, come on, let's get going!"

Holly quickly ran off , May struggling trying to keep up with her Blaziken implant's speed and having to call for her to slow down several times. Holly apologised, but controlling her speed was difficult.

And right now, getting Gem back fast was the best hope.

~X~X~X~

**_Scarlet, Lucy, Hotaru…_**

"Her aura signature is moving," Scarlet said, not having to hide her abilities now they were alone, "So is May's little one with her. But there's another now, a red, slight different red from Gem's old one… and this one's carrying Gem."

"Is it hostile? Can you tell that?" Lucy asked. Scarlet shook her head.

"It's not hostile, its friendly," She assured, "Its helping her, not taking her toward the base, so it has to be friendly," She added as extra assurance.

"Alright, I'll trust that judgement… wonder who it could be," Hotaru said. Scarlet shrugged.

"Who knows, Gem has plenty of contacts and it could be any one of them for all we know. They're close, by the way, we're getting really near them," The coordinator said, running a bit faster, the others running quicker to keep up at the same time. Scarlet told them how far they were from the three others every few metres or so, before warning them to stop before they hit them, and the other three managing to stop just in time too.

"S… Sc-Scarlet?" Gem said, looking over and seeing her, then noticing the other two too, "Y-You guys…"

"Who're they, Gemma?" Holly asked, looking at the three for a minute each.

"M-My… ch-charges and f-friends… th-though Scarlet t-tends t-to prefer hating m-my guts… ugh… wh-what're you three d-doing here? Th… Th-The contest…"

"I forfeited to come find you, and don't worry, no one knows about my aura training still. Plus, they're giving me a ribbon anyway, they think the reason I gave up the final was worthy of it. Though, I was against Dax… so this saved me a loss and gained me a ribbon anyway!" Scarlet grinned. Gem managed a weak giggle.

"Who's the old girl?" Hotaru said.

"I'm not that old!" Holly said. Gem sighed, shifting a bit to see them better.

"A-An… old contact…" She hoped that Lucy and Hotaru could catch on enough that she was from her hidden past, and wouldn't question further. She knew, though, Scarlet was too unbothered about it to ask any more anyway, making her smile to herself.

"Lemme look at her," Hotaru said, stepping closer. Holly held her out a bit so the ex-commander could examine the shaking teen, getting worried as she hissed a curse.

"Is Gemmy okay?" May asked in a worried tone. Hotaru sighed.

"It's not looking good," She said honestly, but masking the full extent of what was wrong to the girl. May's worry only grew. Holly looked at the brunette, eyes serious, making Hotaru sigh. She mouthed a quick 'I'm not sure if I can fix this, but we'll see' to her, out of May's sight. Holly frowned, biting her lip.

"G-god th-this freaking h-hurts… I-I… I-I… god… sh-should've l-listened to you, H-Hotaru… b-but… I-I couldn't…" Gem said. Hotaru patted her arm.

"I know, I get it… but do listen if I tell you medical advice again, okay? We don't want the worst to happen," She warned. Gem nodded, before her eyes began to droop again, heavy, trying to shield her aching eyes, "Gem? Hey, keep your eyes open miss Authoress! Gem!"

Gem groaned, trying her best, but she just couldn't, her eyes were too heavy and her body was fighting against her need to stay awake.

"Quick, run now! We have to get her to somewhere we can actually help her!" Lucy's voice said, Gem just about registering it.

"May, get on my back!" Hotaru said.

"O-Okay…"

"Let's go, right now!"

Then for the second time, Gem's eyes closed, and she fell unconscious.

"Shit! Run, now!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Yayay! It's out, again! Only a couple of days later than how long it took me to update the last one, yay! I'm so happy with myself (: Though… I am feeling a bit horrid right now, a bit ill, might not be in school tomorrow… so I might get more typing done, after homework of course, but who knows *shrug*. Sorry about the short battle bits and stuff, but the main point of this chapter was saving May, and what was wrong with Gem.**

**Holly's around by request of LF, as Nathen got an appearance so to be fair it was only fair Holly got an appearance too, not sure how long she'll be around but for a couple of chapters at least… depending on when Gem and May get called back.  
And one last note… The Movie is postponed… sorry, but I'm not happy with what I've written so far, and a re-write will take time, and my homework, Monoko and this will take up a lot of time, so… Sorry.**

**R&R!**


	61. Ep 60: More time to Rest

**Me: I'm off siiiick! D: Well, I was when I _started_ writing this, doubt I finished it in the same day. It gives me good chance to write, so being off sick isn't so bad. Except for… the homework *sigh***

**Episode 60 (Whoop! I've hit sixty!): More time to rest******

**"Last Episode: Gem's stubborn nature got her into a lot of medical trouble, due to refusing to stay still as she ran off to save the kidnapped May. Scarlet and Crystal battled, and Scarlet received a ribbon, though not by winning her final match against Dax. Now, we catch up with the sick authoress, and the new visitor."**

"U-Ugh…" Gem groaned, teeth gritting and her face contorted in pain as she stirred again, opening her eyes – an even deeper red than last time she woke – before shielding them quickly with her hand as the light stung them.

"She's waking up Miss Hotaru!" May said, seeing Gem's eyes open and waving over at the brunette, who was busy preparing more medicine for Gem. Hotaru turned around and then quickly ran over, helping Gem up into a sitting position carefully, plenty of cushions around her head and back so it wasn't uncomfortable. Her whole body still refused to stop shaking, and her face was still contorted.

"Here, try drinking this again, _more_ than a sip this time," Hotaru said, holding a glass to her lips. Gem managed to drink some of the medicated water, some of it falling onto her because of her shaking. Hotaru pulled the glass away as soon as the water was all gone, and put it on the side, instructing Lucy to make some more up and get some other pain killing medicine for her, "There you go, any better?"

"H-Hardly…" Gem groaned, putting a hand to her chest, "I-Its n-not d-doing much s-so far…"

"Give it chance, Authoress, give it chance."

"Gemmy! You okay now?" May asked frantically, leaning over her a bit to look her in the face. Gem managed to fully open her eyes again, ignoring the stinging it caused. She playfully poked the girl's nose with a trembling finger, and forced a smile.

"I-I'm… a bit better… I-I'll… be fine soon… d-don't… don't worry…" She assured the young girl, getting a little smile back off her, "I'll… be perfectly f-fine…"

"You better be, Gemmy! I don't like that you're so bad because you had to come save me because you promised big brother…" May said, looking down.

"Hey now, th-this is nothing to do with you… Sure, I came to save you when it could only make it worse, but it was my fault you got t-taken in… in the first place… and… I… never break my promises to friends… you cannot say… this is anything like your fault…" The authoress said, before biting her lip hard at a wave of pain, then relaxing as the medicine worked to calm it, "But… d-do me a little favour… d-don't… don't tell your brother… about my condition… okay…? When we go back… whenever that is… I might still be like this… but I can push past it…"

"But why can't I?" May asked, tilting her head.

"Gemma never did like telling Nathen when she was injured in any way, she thought it made her seem weak," Everyone turned to the door to see Holly had walked inside the room now, "Looks like that hasn't changed much, 'ey Gem?"

Gem sighed, "Shut up Hol, please…"

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"Why Gemma? You know what I mean, and you also know I mean no harm by it," Holly said. Gem gave her a glare, red eyes even making Holly shudder.

"You… m-may not mean… any harm but… I… I don't want you t-to… talk about it! I've… h-had enough… of people bringing up… those feelings, okay?-!" Gem snapped, biting her lip again afterwards, shaking intensifying.

"Calm it or you'll agitate your aura more, Ashmore! And that is _not_ good for you, god's sake…" Hotaru groaned, fed up of having to remind her.

"Why, Gemma? If you've seen Nathen…" Holly said, frowning; confused now. Gem bit her lip, then looked to Hotaru.

"H-Hotaru… take May… to play with Nevee and TJ… I… need to catch up with Holly a bit… ok-okay…? I'll be fine… so don't give me… an-any crap about you have t-to keep watch… that goes f-for you too, Lucy, b-both of you go…" She told them, face serious. Hotaru sighed, but nodded, Lucy nodding reluctantly too.

"Fine, fine. C'mon May, let's get you down to play with Nevee and TJ again, okay? Gem'll be okay, you can come check on her again later," Lucy said, holding her hand out for May. May looked at Gem once, before giving a little nod and hopping off the bed, running over and grabbing Lucy's hand. Lucy lead her out of the room to see the hyper girl and the quirky teen, Hotaru following after telling Holly what to do if she got worse again.

"Why do they need to go?" Holly asked, turning back to Gem once the others had left.

"I don't really want everyone knowing everything I'm going to tell you, Lucy and Hotaru know all they need to know about my past, and only one other person here knows everything… or close enough to it at least…" Gem sighed, forcing herself to get her words out properly, "And… I don't really want May knowing that I'm crushing on her brother…" She added afterwards, looking at her lap.

"Oh, I see… so… I take it you two aren't…?" Holly said, biting her lip. Gem shook her head.

"He's moved on… look, there's a lot to explain about what's happened since I blew up that base, and we all went our separate ways… please, just listen…"

"Alright, I will old friend."

"Gimme those tablets first, I need some pain relief to get through an explanation this long…" Gem sighed. Holly nodded, grabbing the pills from the side and giving Gemma a couple with a glass of water. Gem tossed them into her mouth, gulped down some water, then leaning back she sighed, and began to explain everything, again.

~X~X~X~

**_Lobby…_**

"So you three are moving on now?" Scarlet asked, sitting in the lobby with the majority of the group. Crystal, Nathen and Kathryn were stood up, checking they'd remembered to grab everything.

"Yeah, we're gonna head on quickly to Pastoria, we're gonna try and get there on time for the first contest. They're holding two this year, both sometime this month, first one's about five days off, so we need to head down there now to make it in time," Nathen said, putting his bag on.

"It's been great seeing you guys, wish Gem the best for us," Kathryn said.

"Will do," Indigo said, "She'll probably be fine though, Gem's hardly known for giving in easily."

"That's true," Crystal giggled, putting her bag back on too, "Well, see you all soon I guess! Or whenever," She said then, the trio ready to move now.

"Yeah, see ya! Good luck in Pastoria with the gyms and contests," Auberon said.

"Thanks, same to you for whatever you're heading to next!" Kathryn said as the three walked out of the front doors of the centre, waving back. The others all waved back at them until they were out of sight of the centre.

"Wanna bet Crystal'll be up a ribbon next time we see them?" Scarlet said with a grin.

"Probably," Jaspa said.

"We'll probably be leaving you guys soon too, but we'll probably head off to Hearthome first, for their first contest and the gym of course," Lance said, shifting a bit on the sofa.

"Right! Might as well do the gyms in a different order this time around!" Kira grinned. Lance sweatdropped.

"Well if you weren't so bent on beating mom we wouldn't have to go around the same region and gyms again… We're only eleven, you're gonna have us travelling around the same region for years if you go like this every time you lose! Even if you get to mom, there's no way you can beat a champion with over ten more years experience than you!" The rushy girl's twin said, glaring at her through narrowed eyes, "I remind you, you didn't make it past the top eight, you didn't even get to mom."

"Oh shuddup!" Kira said, hitting him upside the head. Everyone in the room sweatdropped.

"May looks like she's having fun out there again," Scarlet commented, laughing as she saw the insane girl, quirky boy and six year old running around outside the centre doors, May grinning, most of her worries gone whilst playing with the two, "She may've only been here a few days but it'll be weird when she's gone."

"Yeah, that's true. And she keeps Nevee from being too annoying," Auberon added, grinning. Scarlet sweatdropped.

"Nevee's having as much, if not more, fun than May out there…" Indigo said, giggling. Jaspa had a tiny smile on his face, though he was trying to keep his usual image around everyone else still. Who knew what kind of stick he'd get off Auberon if he appeared to go _too_ soft.

"What's everyone doing today by the way?" Scarlet asked.

"I was gonna go get some supplies, then do some training probably," Indigo said with a shrug, "There's not really much to do, since we're heading out tomorrow or the day after."

"That's true… Well, we can always occupy ourselves by just looking around and stuff," Scarlet said with a shrug, "Or training, as ya said."

"Yeah… well, I vote for training!" Kira said.

"You would."

"Shut up Lance!"

"Well, I'm going to go off to do some research on what might've happened to Gem, whatever it is its probably rather interesting to read about if its known of," Jaspa said, standing up with his hands in his pockets, "I'll join you later Indigo, where should I check first?"

"The department store I guess, unless it's been over an hour then just go to the small training grounds," Indigo said. Jaspa gave her a small smile, and then walked off to the computer facilities in the Pokémon centre to do his research, though he hadn't actually been entirely truthful on what he'd be searching. He was more interested in finding out what this team Gem had mentioned could be called, and what the region of Monoko was like in general.

"Well, I'm off to do some exploration!" Scarlet said, jumping up, "Not that there's much to explore, but," She shrugged.

"I think I'll join ya, nothing else to do," Auberon said, standing up.

"I'm going to go with Indigo, I think, if ya don't mind," Kira said, "I need supplies too and training would be helpful."

"Sure, come along," Indigo smiled, standing up.

"Guess I'll just have a wander," Lance shrugged. Everyone nodded, and then walked off to do their separate things.

~X~X~X~

**_Gem's Room…_**

"…My family and trainer life now sounds very normal and boring," Holly said after the long explanation was done, eyes a bit wide, "That explains a lot though… man, Gem… I never thought… I always expected you and Nathen to end up together no matter the odds…"

"Well, unfortunately fate had other ideas… He's happy now though, that's what matters. He loves Alice and she loves him. Besides, they always say that if you love something you should let it go if it means them being happy… even if I can't bring myself to let him go totally… can we please _not_ focus on the romance aspect of what I've been through though, please?" Gem sighed, painkillers already dulling again, shaking returning, "God I'll have to take a lot of these to hide it from Nathen…"

"Don't go overdosing yourself, geez!" Holly said, giving her a stern look, "Why do you even have to hide it? If he's so strong now, he can help!"

"I don't need help. It'll heal naturally in time, I can suffer through the pain 'til then, he's got enough on his plate," Gem said, giving back her own look, showing she wasn't backing off her decision. The red haired woman sighed.

"You're stubborn as ever."

"I could say the same."

"Oh shut up."

"Nah."

Both old friends looked at each other in silence for a minute, before bursting out laughing at the familiarity of the banter they shared. Gem tried in vain to suppress the giggles for her own sake, but couldn't, big smile spreading across her face.

"There! That's the Gemma I always hoped to see again, the smiley one!" Holly smiled, making Gem look down, "Oh don't stop it now, Gem."

"Thanks, Hol… I haven't smiled much recently, with everything piling up. It's really good seeing you again."

"Same, Gem, same," The elder smiled, chuckling. Gem smiled a bit more, before tightening her fists as more pain shot through her, "Gemma?"

"F-Fuck this hurts…"

"Honestly, how do you plan to hide this from Nathen? You obviously can't contain the pain and the only way you're going to end up hiding it is by overdosing which would _not_ be good!"

"He'll be busy with other things… it'll be easy enough to hide it from him by avoiding him and pushing past it when he is around…"

"Nathen would immediately know something was wrong if you were avoiding him. He'd probably think it was something he'd done," Holly reminded, making Gem sigh.

"Well tough, he's not making me tell him. This will heal in time, and I'm not telling him."

"Alright… But if you're going back the way you look now, he'll suss it too. Have you seen yourself? Your medical condition right now is definitely showing, no offence… If you're gonna hide this, you need to do it well. I'll help, okay?"

"No way, I don't want a makeover," Gem said, giving a glare. Holly sweatdropped.

"Geez, don't worry, it's not going to be a total makeover. It's just going to be stuff to help make your condition less obvious, like clothes that aren't too loose so they don't show the shakes as much, and something to distract him from how your face is even paler than normal, stuff like that."

"…can I definitely trust you with this?"

"Promise.

"…Fine… Just gimme another tablet first."

"Fine, fine… Geez, you're taking too many…"

~X~X~X~

**_Nevee, TJ, May…_**

"Yay! Playing with you two is still real fun!" May grinned as TJ put her down, standing on a bench, "Its gonna be a bit weird when I'm back with big brother, they'll be more new people for me to meet, I bet!"

"They'll like ya just as much as we do, I bet!" Nevee grinned, bouncing around as hyper as ever, "And I bet you'll find some of them can be just as fun."

"I hope so. Though I really want to spend some time with big brother first, I only got to see him again for a little while before, and I can see Momma and Daddy again too!"

"Well, hopefully you'll get to see them all again soon," TJ smiled, giving her a light tickle which made her squirm, "Keep an eye on Gem whilst she's there too, 'ey? From what I've gathered she plays down how bad things actually are, especially to do with herself."

"I will! But she made me promise not to tell big brother what's wrong with her… would it be bad to break that promise?" May asked, head tilted slightly.

"Hm… maybe, if you really promised…" TJ said, "But… I don't see why it would be a bad thing in the end, she could get more help if he knew, right?"

"I guess… but she really didn't sound like she wanted me to tell him…" May said.

"Well, if she gets worse and you think you have to, then tell him. It's okay to break a promise if it's for someone's safety like that," Nevee said in that normal tone, smiling. May grinned, nodding.

"Okay, that makes sense! Thank you Nevee!"

"You've been coming out with a lot of good advice for her, 'ey Nevee?" TJ smiled. It was odd, even to him, to see these slight serious moments in the girl, but he found she was still the same Nevee during these moments, despite how it seemed. He liked her when she was like that just as much as when she was her normal crazy self.

"Tee-Hee, I guess so!" Nevee beamed, eyes closed with the happy look. TJ smiled more, ruffling her hair, making her squirm and giggle even more, "Hey, let's play the random game!"

"Oh come on, we all know you'd win that, you can come up with the craziest things on the spot," TJ laughed. Nevee grinned more.

"I know!"

"I'll play!"

"Alright, guess I will too."

"Yay!"

~X~X~X~

**_A TUA base…_**

"Wh-Where're you taking me now you creeps?-!" Ruby Ketchum yelled as TUA agents dragged her through the base, holding in yelps of pain from her injuries, "Whatever you're a-about to do it won't work!"

"Sis…?-!" Jasper called out of his own cell as she was dragged off, making her look over, "Hey! Wh-Where're you taking her?-!"

"Shh," Niamh, transported back to the base to return to her guarding duty after the loss of the capture, hissed, "We don't need them taking more than one of you… I think they're just going to show her more illusions, or maybe illusions of her own pain, it won't be anything too serious yet. They build up to that…"

"She's been here a rather long time…"

"It's only actually been about a month and a half since the first one of you was taken, I think… If I'm wrong, blame authoress's timeline. But anyway, it can take ages for them to build up to some things, until they get really annoyed… in cases like this they want to preserve the person as much as they can…" Niamh assured, glad everyone had left the room, and the cameras weren't that good in this room due to the fact the lights had been blown by 'accident' the day before, "You've all got time yet…"

"How safe… is Scarlet…?" Jasper asked. Niamh sighed.

"She's safe for a while… we're not under any orders to capture her directly yet, but I'm worried that people like Quincey and Rin may still try… and anyone who finds themselves in a good opportunity to capture a Ketchum will try to do so without hesitation."

"Great, so she's not very safe…" Jasper sighed, leaning against the floor of his cell.

"Right now, the person that's in most danger from anything aura related is your authoress… she's the one who got that rare aura merged child out of the base, and her aura's now white, which can only make her more of a target… And she's around Scarlet a lot. If someone doing recon on them sees her aura, then she's going to become a target, and I don't know how long it'll be 'til she's fighting fit again going on her state," The blonde said, looking back to him, "That group is a recipe for disaster. I think they've got some aura users going in and out of that group every now and again. Then, they've got Scarlet. Then, there's the two escaped members too, not to mention Gem now… Your family and those affiliated with it never get lucky, do they?"

"I don't think we ever had… Dad was always the centre of trouble, and it's only been passed on as the generations have moved on…" The raven haired young man sighed, "I hope that they can get us out of here…"

"They will, it might take them a while, TUA is not easy to beat, but they'll do it, I can just tell," Niamh said. Jasper gave a small smile.

"I'm glad you're here… well, not really that you've been through this, but you know what I mean."

"I know," Niamh smiled, "Me too."

~X~X~X~

**_Gem and Holly…_**

"…I'm going to give you this… you stuck to my style, so this is one makeover I can put up with…" Gem said, sitting shakily on the edge of the bed, looking in a mirror. Her hair had been cut shorter, more of it swept over to one side of her head than the other from an off-centre parting, the thinner side dyed completely black along with the usual dying of the fringe.

Her clothes now consisted of a simple, moderately tight, black turtleneck with a white waistcoat on over the top, all buttons done up so it didn't shake easily with her body's trembling. She wore skinny jeans, something she had tried to protest to but eventually allowed, and had some boots ready for use by the side of the bed (All this came from Gem's never ending supply of outfits somewhere, naturally). She also had a few details that would possibly give her away when someone looked closely, but if they were missing from her outfit it would look like it hadn't fit her style and could possibly make it even more suspicious. The red rose fastened to her waistcoat, and the red tie that had a skull clip crossing it over half way down her chest. The items shook slightly with her movement, but not enough that anyone would notice without close inspection.

"It's simple enough, fits what I've seen you wear, it's hardly hard to stick to a style. If you must hide it, you really do have to hide it properly," Holly said, "Now come on, take off the accessories and lay back down, you're still weak."

"I know, I know…" She started removing the accessories, putting them on the side, and then folding up her waistcoat and putting it on the side. She took her glasses back off and shifted back on the bed more, wincing at the aching it caused to move. Holly helped her to move back, and to adjust to try to get her comfy, "Oh why oh why do I have to be so stubborn…"

"I don't know, you should think that over, might save you a lot of pain," Holly said with a light chuckle, "You've always been like that though, it's you, you can't change."

"You'd be surprised… I've been acting just as cheerful and insane as ever for years but there's always been something inside that makes me remember I have too much to be sad about… I think my subconscious knew about my lost memories too, which can only have made it worse…"

"You'll be fine now though, right? You're getting some closure, at least, with your new memories… even if nothing is going to be the same as it was for you, me and Nathen, or for us individually… maybe it's all just there to give us new chances. I've got a normal family life now, maybe one day you'll get that too, even if it's not with who you may wish it to be right now…"

"I guess… It is a time for new opportunities… I've always thought that, but everything just kept niggling at the back of my mind and making me think nothing can fill the hole, not even my writing. But… I do wanna try and think of all this as closure," Gem said, a small smile forming, "Thanks, Holly… I needed someone to remind me of that. And need I remind you that I _technically_ have two kids here?"

"True, but," Holly shrugged, chuckling.

Gem smiled, but then sighed, "It's not like I'd get someone else who wants to have a family with me anyway…"

"Oh don't be so negative! You never know! You've had two guys return feelings, right? What's to stop another? And don't give any more negative answers or I'll tickle you, and I am serious. Just because I'm in my thirties doesn't mean I can't be a big kid when I want to be," Holly smirked. Gem gave her a look.

"You wouldn't… that would hurt like hell!"

"Well, you have to get used to hiding pain."

"You… fine, I won't say anything…"

"Good girl."  
"Shut up."

"Nah."

The two burst out laughing yet again, Gem ignoring her pain and allowing herself to enjoy the company of her old friend. Stuff like this was just what she needed.

~X~X~X~

**_Out front of the centre…_**

Outside, just past where Nevee and TJ were playing with the young girl, a small flash occurred as someone appeared using a similar method to Gem switching worlds. The teen that appeared was roughly 5' in height, and could be no older than fifteen. She had long silver hair, with the right side of her fringe covering one of her eyes, leaving a dull grey eye exposed. She was in a black short sleeved turtleneck with a white skull on the centre, with a pair of full length black and white striped gloves on her arms. On her lower half was a pair of dark blue pants with black rose patterns sewn into the legs, a black pair of slip on running shoes on her feet.

"So this should be the right place I have to go to. Now just to find the two I have to get…" The teen said as she started to walk around, keeping her eye out for two people she had been sent to search for, looking around constantly, then spotting the three that were playing.

May was currently running around whilst being chased by Eve and laughing, Nevee jumping on TJ and nearly knocking him over. The teen looked at the six year old for a moment, before nodding and going over toward them slowly. Nevee and TJ noticed first, looking at the silver haired girl, then May noticed too, stopping and allowing Eve to jump on her back in the process.

"Can we help you in any way?" TJ said, hoping this wasn't someone else who meant to take the girl. The teen stopped just a couple of feet from them.

"Do you know someone called Gem? And is that little girl called May by any chance?" She asked, "Nathen's sent me. I'm supposed to be collecting them."

"And your name?"

"Maylu Dusk. I'm one of Nathen's author interns," The girl now known as Maylu said.

"…Yes, we know Gem. She's our authoress here, so we would," TJ said.

"Who's that Nevee, TJ?" May asked curiously.

"Someone who knows your big brother, May! I think she's come to take you home!" Nevee said, smiling, then pouting a bit which made May giggle, "This is whatcha wanted right, you get to see your big brother again soon!"

"Yes! At last!" May cheered, jumping up and then giving Nevee and TJ both a quick hug around the waist, beaming. Both branded huge smiles, then May turned to Maylu, "You're really here to take us home?"

"Yes, your brother sent me to collect you and the girl you came with, Gem. He's been getting too worried or something so he wanted me to get you now," Maylu said with a little smile, "Can you show me to Gem?"

"Yep! She's up in the room we've been in, follow me! She'll be really happy we're going back too, I bet!" May grinned, before taking Maylu by the wrist and tugging so she could lead her to see Gem up in the Pokémon Centre room.

"Wonder why he was suddenly worried enough to bring them back now," TJ said, "why not sooner? Surely he could've been able to tell how badly Gem and May wanted to go back, how worried they were."

Nevee's serious tone made another quick appearance as she spoke now, "Who knows… I'm hoping he hasn't panicked and done it too soon though, Gem's in a bad state and May's still just a little kid, I hope nothing happens to either of them…" TJ only managed a nod. Serious Nevee was still definitely strange.

~X~X~X~

**_Centre Room…_**

"In here! In here!" May cheered as she dragged Maylu into the room, making the two inside look up. Gem's eyes widened a bit, not exactly recognising the girl but getting some hope from this. May sounded extremely happy, so it had to be to do with that person, and chances are it was something to do with her brother.

"What's up now May? Who's this?" Gem asked, managing to keep her voice steady. May beamed.

"Maylu!" Gem's eyes widened as she recognised the name, she was definitely something to do with Nathen, "She said she's big brother's intern! Big brother sent her here so she can take us back!"

"…Seriously?" Gem asked, blinking a few times. Maylu nodded, managing to her wrist from May's grip.

"He's worrying too much, been having bad feelings or something along those lines. So, he sent me to come collect you so he doesn't have to worry so much," She said, "You coming?"

"Of course I am!" Gem was mentally wincing, though, as she heard about the bad feelings. Had he somehow sensed something bad had happened to May, despite the difference in time period and still possibly universe? She hoped he had thought it was just overactive nerves about them being so far off, where he couldn't keep an eye on May himself. She still wasn't sure if she planned to tell Nathen how she had nearly lost May, she didn't really want him knowing she'd been foolish and let all her own worries keep her from keeping her promise to make sure May wasn't in _any_ danger. She still felt terrible for leaving her alone long enough for her to be taken.

But then again, if she didn't say and he found out, would he be annoyed at her for not saying anything on top of nearly losing his sister?

"You ready to go right now?"

"Not quite. May, take her back downstairs and warn the others I'll be leaving in roughly ten minutes, okay?" Gem said.

"The others have all run off, Gemmy! They've gone to do their stuff," May said, "Though Jaspa is on the computers I think!"

"Tell him then, he can tell the others that way. I'll be down soon," Gem said. May nodded, and dragged Maylu off again. Gem smiled, before groaning and shaking a bit again.

"Alright, give me the painkillers. I'll take a few, shove the rest in my bag, and hope this little makeover works…" Gem said, grabbing the accessories and putting them on. Holly handed her the painkillers, which she threw back quickly, then passed her a bag, "Mind looking after the rabble whilst I'm gone?"

"I'll keep an eye on everyone for a while, don't worry. When'll you be back?" She asked.

"I'll probably seem like I'll be back rather soon… but these two stories I'm jumping between switch schedules for updating a lot, so my mind might be a bit out of sync when I'm back in a chapter or two's time… I'll probably remember different things that happened in AL at different times, in order… so don't really expect a full on recount of how everything went," Gem said, "That's the best way I can explain that."

"Alright then. Well, good luck, hope that at some point you may be able to tell me how it went and that I'm not gone by the time you know everything," Holly said, "Say hi to Nathen for me too."

"Will do. And if you're not around, I'll just call you, leave your number with someone," Gem said, giving her a quick hug. She then smiled, "Come on, come see us off," Holly smiled and nodded, following after her as she went.

~X~X~X~

**_Computer Suit…_**

Jaspa looked through the information on the screen with slightly widened eyes, the information he'd managed to find on possible links to this team Gem had mentioned. He'd researched Monoko in general first, but soon his curiosity had taken over and he looked for information on human-Pokémon DNA splicing. The results were varied, but many were linked in ways he couldn't deny.

"Hey Mr. Jaspa!" May called as she ran in, leaving Maylu outside, "Gemmy wanted me to tell you something!"

Jaspa turned to her, not thinking to close his internet window, "What is it May?"

"We're about to leave to go back to big brother, she said I should tell you so you can tell the others whenever ya see them!" May said with a big grin, then seeing the screen, "What's 'DNA Splicing'?"

Jaspa panicked and closed the window, turning the computer off, "Nothing, May, nothing. I've got the message to tell the others now, good luck seeing your brother again."

"What was that? It must be something!" May said, pouting a bit.

"May, you don't need to know. And don't ask Gem either! If she knew I was researching this she'd kill me, no kidding," Jaspa said, dead serious. May was still confused.

"But…"

"Just don't, okay?" Jaspa said, straining to keep himself from flashing his red eyes. May frowned, but nodded, "Good…"

"Well, tell everyone! Bye Jaspa!" She then ran off to find Maylu again, _People sure want me to keep lots of secrets!_

Jaspa sighed in relief, hoping she'd keep that promise.

~X~X~X~

**_Outside…_**

"Alright, I'm ready now," Gem said, wondering to herself how she was even managing to walk right now, her body still hurt like all hell. She walked over to May and Maylu who were waiting in the plaza, "You transporting us back or should I use my watch?"

"Either, it'll do the same thing," Maylu said. Gem shrugged a bit, then lifted her one arm to get to her watch, coordinates set already.

"Alright, this is already set because I've been waiting to go back, so might as well put it to use," She said.

"I can't wait to see my family again!" May grinned. Gem smiled at her.

"Let's go then, kiddo," She said. Maylu gave a nod to say they can go now, Gem readying the last minute parts of the watch's workings, "Off we go."

~X~X~X~

**Me: I am on a _roll! _All these new chapters have taken roughly 5 days! Yes! *cheer* I'm so happy with myself! This chapter was regrettably a filler chapter mainly, sorry, but it was needed. Gem and May are on their way back, or about to be, hope how I did and worked with Maylu was good enough, Nathen.  
Next chapter may take longer again, despite how I'm on my half term holidays. I have three days away in the week without a computer, so… *shrug* I'll try though, to get one out before the end of the week holiday. **

**R&R!**


	62. Ep 61: Tall grass trouble

**Me: Chapter time again, probably took longer than the last few but that can't be helped, sorry guys. I'll do my best to get this out fast, though I don't have much of a plan for this chapter as of yet. Might just have to go for some random plot for an episode like in the anime, but don't know what… well, we'll see!**

**Episode 61 – Tall Grass Trouble ******

**"Last Episode: Gem and May were finally called back to Auracian Legacy after days of worrying, but with Gem's current condition only time will tell how that will go over there. Meanwhile, an old friend of Gem's has been left to keep an eye on the ever insane group, wonder how she'll handle that?"**

"I am now getting a bit worried about the task I've been left with…" Holly said, sweatdropping, sitting in the lobby waiting for the trainers to all wake up and come down. Jaspa was already sat on one of the chairs around her, fiddling with some device, "It can't be worse than travelling with Gemma before, right? She was pretty mad then…"

"It'll be plenty worse," Jaspa said, "Most people here are at least semi-insane."

"Thanks, that helps a lot," Holly said with light sarcasm, sighing. Jaspa shrugged.

"Scarlet is hot-headed and crazy in her own right, and she and the insane elf constantly bicker and the elf himself is paranoid as hell. Nevee… well, Nevee's clinically insane and she never takes any of her meds to calm her down and rarely has natural serious moments, TJ's quirky too and he's with her constantly now. Kira rushes like she's on fire, and… well, to be honest Lance is one of the mostly sane ones, he's a lot calmer. Indigo has her moments, but she's mostly sane, and Hotaru and Lucy… they have to be sane I guess even if they also have their moments," Jaspa said, giving another indifferent shrug. Holly sweatdropped more.

"You have a really positive view of your friends, don't you?"

"I'm merely stating the truth," Jaspa said indifferently. Holly's sweatdrop only grew, "They should all be awake soon. Indigo will probably be down first, then Scarlet, and so on."

"Alright, geez you're observant…"

"Hi guys, morning!" Indigo said with a bright smile as she walked downstairs, her bag already on her shoulders, though today she was also in a long black coat, "Its rather chilly out there, Jaspa, you should probably put on a coat for when we go," She added when she saw him just in his usual clothing, putting her bag on a chair and sitting down by him.

"It won't affect me," He said simply, giving a little smile. Indigo pouted, "It's the truth."

"But still!" Jaspa just chuckled at her, putting his arm around her and allowing her to lean on his shoulder. Holly couldn't stop a smile.

"Mooooorning all!" Scarlet grinned as she walked down too, hood up over her hat, bag over her shoulder, "We going soon?"

"As soon as the others are up, yes," Jaspa said. Scarlet practically threw herself onto a chair, grinning.

"Goodie! Hey, how long do you think it'll take us to get down to Pastoria once we set off?" She asked, looking at Jaspa directly knowing he probably checked the timings.

"Probably a few days, five at the most if we're really slow. I think there are a couple of tiny towns along the way, but as far as I know there's no contest until Valor that we can make," Jaspa said.

"There's a contest on at Valor? That's great! I can get another ribbon!" Scarlet grinned.

"And if you don't there's always the Pastoria contest afterwards, the second one Nathen mentioned," Indigo added. Scarlet nodded.

"Yep! Third Ribbon here I come! Heh, I'll do both contests anyway if I can, so I can make Gem write more. She'll probably be back by then," Scarlet grinned.

"She's ill, Scarlet, isn't that harsh?" Holly said.

"Oh, Gem's used to her antics, don't worry," Indigo said, half giggling half sighing, "Plus Gem might be healed when she comes back. Even if not immediately even if she is… man this whole thing is confusing how these two worlds work and link, I don't think I even want to try to understand."

"I understand it perfectly."

"You would Jaspa," Scarlet said, grinning over at the boy. Jaspa just gave a roll of his eyes and held back a chuckle.

"Morning!" Auberon grinned as he jumped down the last five stairs, bag swinging wildly behind him.

"Told you it'd be this order," The yellow eyed boy then said with a smirk. Holly sweatdropped.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"Alright, so off we go, off to Valor first!" Scarlet said, everyone now gathered by the exit to route 214, which would lead them down to Valor. The walk to the lake itself and the lakefront with it would take roughly two days, or a day and a half.

"Remind me why we're tagging along with these guys when we're going to Hearthome?" Kira said with a sweatdrop, face deadpanned, "We're gonna have to walk even further to get there now!"

"I feel like entering the contest in Valor when we get down there. Besides, it's not like we can miss your gym, and if we do miss the first Hearthome contest, which we'd still have plenty of time to get to anyway, I could wait for the next one or go to another city," Lance said. Kira whined.

"But I wanna get to my next gym!" She complained, slumping over, making everyone sweatdrop, and a couple facepalm. Lance pulled her back to stand with a sigh.

"You are so impatient!"

"You're too patient!"

"Oh shut up!"

"No, you shut up Mr. Patient pants!"

"Both of you, calm it!" Holly said, giving both a stern stare, making them shut up. Holly smirked to herself, okay, maybe this was more than she was used to but after raising four kids, two of which are yet to reach ten, she was used to calming down little fights like that, "Look, if we want to cover enough ground we should move. Now."

"Fine, fine," Kira grumbled.

"Race ya!" Scarlet grinned, running off. Auberon smirked and ran straight after her with a yell of 'I'll win this time!', before anyone could stop either of them.

"Hey, you two wait! There's something you need to know about the route!" Holly called to them, but they were long gone, "Oh man…"

"Wait, isn't that route currently even messier than normal? Like all the tall grass is everywhere?" Lucy asked, looking at the red-headed substitute leader.

"Yes… I walked by that route recently, the grass is about six feet high… it's really easy to get lost in it, especially when you're not in a big group. Oh just great, I've already lost two of you…" Holly sighed, "Come on, we better go after them quickly! We might be able to catch them!"

~X~X~X~

**_Route 214 – Tall Grass_**

"Holy shit this grass is tall! I can barely see where I'- waah!" A thud was heard soon after the sudden yelp, as Scarlet's foot got tangled in a piece of tall grass and made her trip over. Auberon sweatdropped as he caught up to her, undoing the tied piece of grass and pulling her to her feet.

"Geez, clumsy much?" He said with a grin, getting a glare of the raven haired girl, "Man, this grass is rather tall isn't it? That's gotta be at least six feet…" He added as he looked around, brushing at some of the grass to try and see if it was the same all around them, which it appeared to be, "Looks like it could go on for quite a distance too… Geez when was the last time someone cut all this?"

"Obviously a very long time ago…" Scarlet said, looking around with her hands on her hips, up at the sky which was still visible above the tall grass, "Man, I heard the grass here was tall, but bloody hell!"

"Well, we better run back to the others so we don't end up getting lost here," The elfy boy said, turning to go back through the grass, walking through the thick green plant, Scarlet quickly trying to follow. She grabbed the back of his shirt, so she didn't end up lost in the grass.

"I don't like this, we didn't run that far into here…" Scarlet pointed out, "Auberon, I think we're lost. Already."

"No way, we can't be lost! Have some faith in me, dude!" Auberon said, giving her a look, keeping walking around, and dragging the raven haired girl with him.

"Face it, we're lost because we ran off. Oh this is just so typical, when Big mouth isn't in the sky to tell us which way to go, we get lost again," She groaned after a while more walking, hitting her head against his back repeatedly until she got a hit over the head for it.

"We are _not_ lost," Auberon insisted with as harsh a glare as he could manage, which wasn't much when aimed at Scarlet. Scarlet sighed at his stubbornness, flicking him on the nose.

"Then we either have to just stay here and wait for the rest to 'catch up'," She mumbled a 'more like find us…', "Or just keep going and hope they meet up or catch up with us by the time we reach the end of this grass patch, okay?"

"I say we just keep going!" Auberon said in his typical upbeat voice. Scarlet facepalmed.

"And that'll just get us more lost…"

"We are not lost!"

"You keep telling yourself that, Auberon, you keep telling yourself that…" The coordinator sighed, tapping the brim of her hat against her forehead with a sigh.

"Come on, let's get going! Now!" The red haired boy said, grabbing her by her hand, again causing the two to blush from the contact, and dragging her off through the grass.

"Hey! Get off! Oi! Auberon you dope!"

~X~X~X~

**_The others…_**

"Oh perfect! Looks like we have lost them…" Holly groaned as she stopped in the tall grass, around about where she had thought the two could've reached. She looked around and saw there was no sign of anyone being in that section of grass any time recently, and sighed, "I am sooo doing well at this," She said with sarcasm evident.

"Um… hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they're not the only ones we've lost," Hotaru said from behind her, causing Holly to turn, and groan seeing that Hotaru was right. Behind her now were only Hotaru, Lucy, Indigo and Jaspa.

"Great, just great!" She exclaimed, "And to make matters worse, it's the two insane ones!"

"Be grateful TJ is with her, it'd be triple trouble if Nevee was on her own. I think TJ can have more serious moments than Nevee, so they should be fine…" Lucy said, "Though… I wouldn't bet on it."

"Thanks for the reassuring thoughts," Holly sighed, "Alright, we can fix this… all we have to do is find them, this grass patch can't be that big, right?"

"It could be… anyway, even if it's not, it'll still be hard to search around," Jaspa pointed out, "You can't really tell where you've been already in this mess, or which way we're going."

"He has a point," Indigo agreed. Holly looked around, and sighed, realising that Jaspa was indeed right. If she really wanted to make a path she knew she could just torch one into the grass, but she knew that that would not help here, it would only set the whole area on fire, and she didn't need to be pulling what she called 'a Gemma' right now. She'd just have to try her best to search around, hoping that the aura users and possibly her heat source sensing would be enough.

"Alright then, we're just going to have to try our best. Lucy, Hotaru, from what I gathered from Gemma you can use Aura, right? Can you search around here?" Holly asked. Lucy shrugged.

"We could. Doesn't mean it'd be easy to hone in on them, we could find them but they'll be moving around a lot, I can bet… we've lost the most insane mem-… wait, holy shit, we've lost Kira and Lance too!"

"…And we only just noticed. I am not doing so well at this," Holly said, facepalming, "It's so much easier looking after your own kids…"

"Oh don't worry, Gem doesn't do much better," Indigo said with a light giggle, "With us _or_ her own kids."

"So we're now searching for six people. Perfect," Hotaru said, "We're going to have to split up to find that many people, even with aura sight. Because otherwise we'll probably head for one group and lose track of the other two."

"Then how do we split? Two groups and hope that one of the pairs in the six manages to get out on their own?" Lucy asked, "One Aura user in each?"

"Well, to be honest it may be easier to just go in two twos and me on my own; I have my own way of searching," Holly said, "And you two can probably track back to us if you need to with aura, right?"

"I guess so," Hotaru said, "Alright, guess we can do that. We'll try and find a couple of the pairs, you guys look around. Indigo, Jaspa, how about you focus on getting a path out of here?"

"Alright, will do!" Indigo said, holding onto Jaspa's arm as ever. Jaspa just gave a nod.

"Time to go a-searching then," Holly said, adjusting her bag, "I'll head west from here. Jaspa, Indigo, your best bet is probably north. Hotaru, Lucy, go wherever," She said, before turning and walking off to their left. Indigo quickly began dragging Jaspa north, despite the pain from her bruises, Lucy and Hotaru taking the east direction to try and see if any of the pairs had gone that way.

Hopefully, they were still in the pairs…

~X~X~X~

**_Nevee and TJ…_**

"Nevee, uh… I think we've lost the others," TJ said as he looked around, realising the two were alone, coming to a stop from the run they were performing. Nevee skidded to a dead stop and looked around too, blinking, then giggling and shrugging.

"So? This is fun!" She grinned, bouncing. If she jumped too high TJ was pretty sure she could probably see over the top of the grass, he wouldn't even be surprised if she could do that, "I'm a Spoink, yay!" TJ couldn't help but laugh at that one, "Come on! Join in!"

"We probably should be trying to get out of here… but… meh," TJ said, chuckling then allowing Nevee to grab his hands and make him jump too, "You're mad, you know that?" He smiled. Nevee beamed.

"I know! I'm crazy and proud!" She cheered, sticking her tongue out and pulling a childishly cute face. TJ laughed.

"Good, its great ya like who ya are," TJ grinned, starting to tickle her when they landed on the floor. Nevee squealed and squirmed, giggling.

"S-Stop! Tee-hee! Th-that tickles, stoooop!" She squealed, trying to stop him by thrashing about lightly. TJ didn't let up, chuckling and pulling the girl closer to tickle her more. Neither realised exactly how close they ended up due to this until Nevee's squirming made their noses hit together, causing both to immediately pause. They looked at each other, going deep red in the face, then both jumped back at the same time.

"Uh…" TJ said. Nevee stood is a strangely awkward manner now, red, before seeing something that she either was truly distracted by, or was using it as an excuse to seem so.

"Oo, looky!" She said quickly, stepping around him and crouching in front of a small Pokémon, a Stunky. She giggled and petted its head, though the Stunky didn't look that impressed.

"U-Uh, Nevee, you probably shouldn't irritate a skunk Pokémon…" TJ pointed out, whilst trying to get the shade of deep crimson to fade from his cheeks. Nevee shrugged with a light giggle, petting it still, before it suddenly sprayed her with skunk stink. Her face immediately changed to a stunned and somewhat disgusted expression, blinking with very, very wide expression, before she fell over backwards anime style, "…Nevee?"

"Bleh…" She coughed out, making TJ facepalm.

"Oh boy."

~X~X~X~

**_Kira and Lance…_**

"Now look what you've gone and done, we've lost the others!" Kira said as she quick walked through the grass, Lance jogging a bit to try and catch up to her.

"What _I've _done? You're the one who randomly rushed off in the opposite direction to them!" The blonde male said, pushing grass out of the way as it was flicked back in his face by Kira's movements. Kira looked back at him, sticking her tongue out and pulling at one eyelid.

"Details, details," She said, grinning. Lance sighed but chuckled, "Besides, how hard can it be to get out of here? Just walk one direction far enough and you'll have to come to an exit!"

"Says the one changing directions like a bloody Zigzagoon…" Lance said to his twin, sweatdropping at the need to even use such a phrase.

"Meh, so what," She said, "Might as well have a little fun; the others will take ages to get out."

"Watch them all be out when we get out…" Lance said. Kira stuck her tongue out again, "You are so immature."

"You have your moments too."

"Not as many as you."

"Shuddup."

Then, out of nowhere, a voice said: "Gravel!"

"…Eh?" Kira said, looking around. Lance looked around them, peeking through some of the grass to see where it was coming from. Neither noticed that the grass that _wasn't_ wherever Lance kept looking, it circled around and missed the area Lance was looking at each time he moved. Then suddenly, the circling sped up and they could hear and see the shaking of the grass.

"I do not get a good feeling about this…" Lance said, looking around the circling, shaking grass.

"Oh come on, wuss!" Kira said, sticking her tongue out, heading toward the grass around them, "It's probably some stupid little Pokémon messing about!" She picked up a pebble and threw it into the grass, "Scram!"

That was not a good move on her part, as immediately after three large Graveler came rolling out at high speed, throwing Kira onto one of their backs and making her run comically fast to try and stay up on her feet without falling and being crushed. Lance panicked and starting running off as fast as he can, the Graveler speeding behind him.

"Kirara I swear to god things like this always happen because of you!" He yelled as they kept running. Kira sweatdropped as she kept running on top of the angry ground types.

~X~X~X~

**_Indigo and Jaspa_**

"Shouldn't take us long to find a way out, right? Just walk straight and hopefully we'll find an exit," Indigo said, holding Jaspa's arm and looking up at him, shrinking a bit into her coat at a small breeze blowing past.

"Hopefully, unless we end up walking into the rocks at the one side of the path that is," Jaspa said, looking to her before pushing away more grass to walk through it. Indigo gave a nod, gripping his arm tighter, "You cold?"

"Just a little, the breeze is blowing surprisingly well through this grass…"

"Take my jacket, it's thicker than yours, and I'm not using it," Jaspa said as he opened his bag and pulled out a thick black coat, offering it to the girl. Indigo gave a smile, and shrugged off her jacket quickly, grabbing his and pulling it on just as quick, shoving hers in her bag.

"Thank you, Jas," She said, smiling more, though hoping he hadn't found anything odd about her quickness. Her makeup had nearly run out, she hadn't been able to risk getting it from Veilstone when Kira was shopping with her, she'd wonder why she was buying it, so she had to wait until Valor or even Pastoria until she could get some more. The covering of her bruises was light, and thought it hid it from normal sight, with Jaspa's growing clarity in his eyes she was scared he would see them.

"No problem," Jaspa said with his own smile, holding his arm out for her again. Indigo latched back on, nuzzling his shoulder a bit, making Jaspa's smile grew. He'd never felt this close to anyone. He was glad he had Indigo now, despite how they had started to become close.

"Come on, let's keep on going 'til we get out of here," The blonde said, loosening her hold just a bit to grab his hand. The ginger haired boy nodded, leading her forward more, before stopping suddenly, "Huh? Something wrong?"

"I can hear something heading this way…" Jaspa said, slightly tense and pushing Indigo a bit behind him. Indigo moved from his arm to just hug him around the torso from behind, Jaspa immediately glad she couldn't see the small blush forming on his cheeks.

They were in a slightly tensed silence for a couple of minutes, before suddenly something burst out of the grass in front of them and Jaspa quickly dragged Indigo over to the side at a slightly inhuman speed. They looked back after a moment to see a familiar boy being chased by Beedrill, now running in circles around the patch of the grass they were in, arms in the air and screaming. Indigo and Jaspa immediately sweatdropped, Jaspa resisting the urge to violently head-smack off the floor.

The boy had spiky brown hair toward the right side of his head, with some covering the eye of the same side, and navy blue eyes. He was dressed in dark blue pants, dark red shoes with a white star on each side, white short sleeved shirt, and a red long sleeved jacket with a white scale on the back.

I think you can all tell who this is even with the costume change.

"Waaaah! Stop chasing me! Oh why does my luck always turn out like this?-!" He cried as he ran around.

"We better help him out…" Jaspa said, still sweatdropping. He grabbed a Poké Ball, and throwing it released his fire type Devil, Devire, "Devire, use Ember on the Beedrill."

Glad to finally be used, Devire nodded and used the attack, sending the Beedrill packing, luckily not just irritating them more as it could easily have done. The boy bent over with his hands on his knees, panting for breath, before looking up and giving the two a small wave, with a nervous grin.

"Heh, thanks you two… Accidentally walked over a nest, not sure how though, I was sticking to a path at the time, all the nests were at the side of the road…" He said, scratching the back of his head as he stood up straight.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me, that's just your luck, Kite," Indigo said with a giggle. Kite chuckled.

"Guess so… I can only bet it'll get even worse now I've bumped into you guys… Where're all the others?"

"We're all split up because half the group got themselves lost… and Gem's off in some other story, so there's no pest in the sky for a couple of chapters," Jaspa said, shrugging.

"…Does that mean I'm now lost?" Kite asked.

"Nope, not _technically_. We're finding the way out of the grass so the others can get to us, so we're not lost ourselves… yet," the young half-vampire continued, shrugging yet again.

"That's really reassuring," Kite sighed, sarcasm evident.

~X~X~X~

**_Lucy and Hotaru…_**

"I think I can see Scarlet's Aura signature rather close now, and Auberon's strange half and half one, so I think we got 'em," Hotaru said, opening her eyes right after saying this, "Wonder how the others are all doing."

"Probably fine… hopefully fine," Lucy said, then correcting herself, "I'm curious as to how Holly's searching, though. Her aura isn't anything huge, and it doesn't have evidence of much, if any, use."

"Well, who knows. If she knew Gem in whatever hidden past she must have, then maybe she has some sort of implant too?" Hotaru said, before getting her mouth covered by Lucy, "Hey!"

"Don't talk about that out loud, baka! If Scarlet and Auberon heard that, asked questions, then bugged Gem when she gets back we'd be dead meat!" The purple haired girl hissed, giving her old friend a glare. Hotaru pried off her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine. Like she'd be able to kill us in her state anyway," The brunette said.

"I'm still confused about that. I can't think of anything that can cause a total aura change like that, at all. Nothing in her body had a reason to trigger such a reaction…" Lucy said, her expression turning thoughtful.

"Who knows, it's hardly like we have much to go off. There's very few accounts of such events, Lu', and the only one with an explanation is the case I mentioned with the 'accident' with the curse mark. A couple others are back from old records from the Auracians, which aren't fully understood, the last couple have no explanation and one of those cases died from overexertion after it, which Gem nearly did to herself…" Hotaru said, "I'm not too happy about her being in AL at this point, if she doesn't tell Nathen, he can't force her not to do anything stupid, and who knows what she'll do…"

"With how much pain she's in, I doubt she can hide it for long," Lucy said.

"She's stubborn though. She'll do anything to stop him finding out, I can bet. Avoiding him, taking too many pills, whatever, she'd do it…" Hotaru sighed, putting a hand on her hip, "She's too stubborn for her own good. Plus… even if Nathen finds out, in his time period they won't have as much information on this type of thing, I'm pretty sure back then they only had the two Auracian Records. And what's an Aura user's first reaction when someone's in pain or has an aura related injury?"

"Aura Heal?"

"Yup."

"…So?"

Hotaru sighed lightly, "Aura heal will only make her condition worse. That's why I only used those special painkillers to help her. Her aura is only able to heal itself now, if anyone uses their aura to heal her, or pushes their aura into hers to try and fix the problem, she could easily get worse. It could cause more pain, longer healing time, stuff like that… but also worse things, like a temporary coma or _death_… And there's very little about this condition that points to it being anything but a simple pain or injury… Only someone with deep medical training can spot this, that's how I noticed and know this…"

"…And you didn't think to tell Gem this before she left?-!" Lucy exclaimed after a moment, "Now we just have to hope Nathen can figure that out if he does realise!"

"I know, I know. It didn't come to mind, okay? We were off doing our own thing when she left, I hadn't expected her to be taken back for a little while yet considering what she'd said and stuff," The ex-commander sighed, holding her hands up in her defence.

"If she dies you now get the blame."

"Oh gee, nice. It's not all my fault!"

"What's not all your fault?" Scarlet said as she randomly popped her head around some grass, grinning, Auberon's head popping out just above hers. Lucy and Hotaru sweatdropped.

"Nothing, nothing. Geez, finally there you are… do you guys like causing trouble?"

"Maybe," Auberon said with a shrug as the two walked into full view, "Uh… by the way, we might wanna run. We're kinda being chased by pissed off Girafarig…"

"…say what?" Lucy said with a blink and an incredulous look.

"Heh…"

"Run!"

After a moment, they all just ran as fast as they could away from about seven angry giraffe Pokémon. Chasing is a running theme right now, it seems (no, that terribly small and bad pun was not intended).

~X~X~X~

**_Holly…_**

"Alright, so… Indigo and Jaspa have found someone… geez Jaspa's signature is super cold… don't know who that other person is… Lucy and Hotaru seem to have found Auberon and Scarlet… so that leaves me chasing after Nevee and TJ or Kira and Lance… and those two look like they're nearly out on their own… due to being chased…" Holly said with a sweatdrop, opening her eyes. She wasn't using aura, no, she was using something Gem had briefly used a few episodes ago, heat vision. It was harder to tell people apart by purely the heat signature itself, but with being able to see the shapes still it made it rather easy for her to tell who each person she saw was, "So, Nevee and TJ it is… man, Nevee's is cold too… weird."

Holly started to walk off, following where she had seen the heat signatures of the quirky pair. She thought through a few things as she walked, like how different it was with Gem now. She had begun to think she would never see her again, or Nathen, and she had yet to see him again anyway. Gem was so different, but the same. Then again she guessed that was inevitable, times had changed for all of them, they weren't just kids travelling around now. Gem had her own kind of life and career, she had her own family and position in Unova, and who knows with Nathen, the two girls only knew about his seventeen year old self's current life.

"Maybe one day it'll all make sense… Maybe everything's not as different as it seems, who knows… I'm still so shocked Gem and Nathen haven't ended up a pair as it always seemed they would do… They were so close… Guess some things just happen like that… I feel sorry for Gem that she can't get over it yet…" Holly said to herself as she walked, keeping a look out for signs of the two she was searching for, "Hm, when she comes back, I might ask about those two with the cold signatures… no human can have an inner body temperature that cold, even if their outside is warmer, without being in some serious crap… and since no one here seems to know about our implants, I doubt its anything like that…"

"Can ya see anything from up there?" A male voice then said from nearby, making Holly stop and turn her head. She closed her eyes and could see the two very people she was searching for behind just a bit more grass. She turned and walked in that direction, giggling a bit when she saw Nevee was standing on TJ's shoulders, though TJ was trying not to stumble over.

"Nope, it's all just grass~!" Nevee said, grinning then jumping down with surprising grace. TJ nearly fell over backwards, but righted himself just in time. Nevee then saw Holly, and with a grin looked at her and waved, "Hi!"

Holly laughed, "Hi you two. You ready to get out of here?"

"I think so, yeah…" TJ chuckled, grabbing onto Nevee's hand and smiling as she beamed.

"Alrighty then you two, follow me."

"Bananas!"

"Oh Nevee… *chuckle*"

~X~X~X~

**_On the other side of the large patch of high grass…_**

First out of the patch, were Indigo, Jaspa and Kite, who had been quick to walk the straight path needed to exit, relieved to find that the grass up ahead was not as high as the grass they'd just walked through. Kite was more relieved that nothing else bad had happened on the way out, though.

"Here we are then, out!" Indigo said, looking around, "Thank the lord that's over."

"I agree…" Jaspa nodded.

"How long do you think it's going to take the other… however many you're with now?" Kite asked, looking back at the grass.

"Not got a clue," Indigo shrugged, "It depends how long it took them to find everyone else."

"So we could be here quite a while?" Kite said. Indigo shrugged.

"It's possible."

"Great."

"Waaaaaaah!" A voice then screeched as too people burst out of the grass in different ways. The male, Lance, ran out and then nearly tripped over as he tried to stop suddenly. The girl, Kira, was _thrown_ out of the grass as the Graveler stopped, refusing to go beyond the grass for whatever reason. She then promptly flew into and knocked over Lance, sending them both roughly to the ground.

"…Well, there's two of them!" Indigo said with a sweatdrop.

"Typical entry for this story," Jaspa commented as the two got back up to their feet and brushed themselves off.

"That was so your fault," Lance said, sighing and rubbing his head, which he'd hit when Kira landed on him.

"Was not!"

"Who was the one who threw a rock at the moving grass?"

"…Not me! It was… uh… the invisible man?"

"Save it Kira."

"…And these two are?" Kite asked, sweatdropping at the bickering.

"Kira and Lance," Jaspa said simply.

"Alright you two, stop the bickering. God you're as bad as Scarlet and Auberon sometimes…" Indigo sighed, giving them a look.

"He started it!" Kira protested, only getting a harder look making her slump and shut up.

"Now just for the o-…" Indigo started, before four others came out of the grass, this time all running and then tripping over. Voices of angry Pokémon were heard, but again they refused to go beyond the grass, "…-others… okay, considering Gem isn't around that was convenient timing."

"Ow…" Scarlet said as she sat up and rubbed her head, then righting her cap. Auberon stood right up and brushed himself off, scratching the back of his head. Hotaru groaned and got up, pulling up Lucy then dusting off, shaking her head and sighing.

"What did you do to those Girafarig?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"Auberon stepped on one's tail when it was sleeping," Scarlet said, giving Auberon a glare as she used his arm to pull herself to her feet, jabbing him in the side with her elbow. Auberon rubbed his side and said with a pout 'ow'.

"You guys got chased by _Girafarig?_" Kira said, silence over already.

"Auberon's fault."

"Shuddup."

"No."

"Oh, hi Kite!" Scarlet then said, seeing him, "Heh, bad luck continues for you. You just missed Crystal and Nathen and stuff again, they left a day or so ago, they'll be past Valor by now I bet."

"…Oh perfect. I missed them _again?_ That's the second time I've missed them after they've left you guys!" Kite said with a small whine, sighing, "Yep, bad luck continues…"

"Hehe," Scarlet snickered lightly.

"Oh good, you all got out!" Holly said as she and the other two walked simply out of the grass, the calmest entrance yet, "And who's the new edition?"

"Someone who we know, he's travelled with us a bit before, another of Gem's 'charges' and stuff," Auberon said.

"Hi, I'm Kite," The unlucky boy said with a small wave.

"He's super unlucky," Scarlet added with a grin, "As in super, super unlucky."

"Thanks, Scarlet, I got the message the first time," Holly said with a light laugh, "Well, we've got everyone now, right?"

"Yep, unless we've lost someone who we never had," Auberon grinned. Indigo and Scarlet both smacked him around the back of the head, "Hey!"

"Anyway, we can get moving now then. Kite tagging along now?" Holly said.

"Think so, right?" Indigo asked.

"Yep, guess so," Kite nodded.

"Well, off we head then!"

"Bananas!"

"Again, Nevee, really?"

"Tee-Hee!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Next chapter, done! Sorry this took longer than the last one, but I had other stuff to do. The next one may take longer too, since I have a shit tone of studying for my first Math exam to do. I'll try my best though. Sorry that it's a filler, but it's pretty much all I could do for here.  
And yay, my birthday passed a couple of days ago! I'm 16! …And still not five foot. But hey, I'm still happy! :P**

**R&R!**


	63. Ep 62: 'Egg'citing

**Me: And here comes another one, partly a filler but also partly important. So, so, so sorry about the wait on this! I didn't mean it to take this long!**

**Episode 62: 'Egg'citing (yes, bad pun)**

**"Last chapter: Everyone temporarily got lost in the long, unruly grass of the start of route 214 on their way toward Valor and then Pastoria. Along with this, an old face arrived back to the group, the unlucky boy by the name of Kite. Now the group has come upon an area easier to walk through and are making their way toward Valor."**

"Thank god there's no more of that grass… for now," Scarlet said as they walked along the path that lead down toward the lake, all seeming to be totally clear, "Wonder why only that bit's so bad."

"Who knows, wouldn't surprise me if Gem set it up before she went," Auberon said with a shrug.

"True."

"Well be grateful it lasted only that long, we can get to Valor quicker now," Indigo said, "As long as nothing else distracts us along the way…"

"I have a feeling something will," Lance said, "Journeys are rarely that simple, even for normal people."

"Plus we've got Gem too."

"That's what I was referring to, Kira," Lance said, glancing at his twin. Kira shrugged, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, we're hardly normal even without Gem, by most people's standards," She said. Lance paused for a moment, before giving a nod of agreement.

"Gem can't be influencing what's going on if she's not here, can she?" Kite asked.

"Oh you really don't know her as well as we do, Kite," Scarlet said, giggling, arms folded, "She can influence what happens here whenever she damn well pleases, even if she always denies it. Even if she's busy in the story she's in now, she's always got something planned ahead for us."

"Oh goody… that probably means something bad for me…" The unlucky boy said with a sigh.

"Don't be so negative, you can't be _that_ unlucky," Holly said, looking at him, eyebrow raised. Kite sighed, scratching the back of his head and sweatdropping, "Come on, how bad can it be?"

"Very, very bad," Scarlet said with a snicker, "Earlier when he bumped into us? The reason he was running away from Beedrill was because he trod on a nest… when he was walking down the middle of a road."

"…Alright, that is rather bad," Holly admitted with a sweatdrop and slight laugh.

"I just bet something else will happen to m-… waah!"

Kite's sentence was suddenly cut off as something barrelled past the group and knocked him, and only him, right off his feet. He fell hard onto his back and the mysterious offender landed on the floor just behind him, stopping with their legs in the air and chin and chest against the ground, in a right state. A Pokémon egg rolled just a bit further than that, stopping on the right end. Everyone stared for a moment as the offender sat up and adjusted themselves, revealing it to be a girl of around eighteen, dressed in jeans and a shirt and an apron, with long light purple hair.

"Whaaaaa… what just… happened…?" Kite said with swirly eyes, laying flat on his back.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" The girl said as she got up quickly, grabbing Kite by the arm with a firm grip and pulling him back up to his feet just as quick. Kite grunted, a bit dizzy from the speed of the tug and from hitting his head off the floor, eyes still swirly, "I just dropped that egg and I had to chase after it or it could've smashed or something horrible and I would've been in big trouble with Joshua…"

"Meh, it's okay. Kite'll be over it soon enough, he's used to accidents like that," Scarlet said with a grin, getting a glare off Kite.

"Here, here's the egg," Jaspa said, picking it up off the floor and passing it over to the girl. She took it and gave a quick bow.

"Thanks! Oh man if that had smashed… Eep," The girl looked the egg over as she spoke, checking for any cracks or damage, "Phew, not even a scratch."

"Where did that egg and you come from anyway?" Kira asked.

"Over there, I work at a little daycare," The girl replied, gesturing over at a small wooden building, settled in an area where the trees had been removed to create a space for the building to be built up, "My name is Abigail, by the way!" Everyone else followed with a chorus of their names to introduce themselves.

"Hey Abigail! You got that egg?-!" A voice called from over by the daycare, the group looking over to see a man looking over at them, waving a hand. Abigail nodded, holding the egg up, "Watch it or you'll drop it again!"

"Oh right, sorry Joshua!" Abigail said, pulling the egg down into her arms and just holding it tight again. The man shook his head, sighing, and then waving her to come over. Abigail looked at the group, "You guys can come too if ya like, we let people leave their Pokémon with us for a bit and look at the eggs sometimes."

"Sure, sounds good," Scarlet said.

"Just as we thought, a distraction," Indigo said with a light giggle.

They headed off toward the small building, the man waiting at the door as they headed over, a hand on one of his hips. He had lots of Poké balls attached to his belt, and had more than one belt on to hold them, there were that many. He tilted a hat as the group got close, giving a polite nod.

"Hello. S'rry 'bout my assistant here, she's a little ditzy," Joshua said, "She's forever dropping our eggs, she knows she'll be the ones apologising to customers, but…"

"Its fine, we've got our fair share of slightly' _more than slightly_ 'crazy people in our group," Hotaru said, waving a hand, "The one who took the tumble from her was the one who's always attracting bad luck anyway."

"Stop bringing that up…" Kite whined.

"Abigail, take the egg back inside and put it back in its incubator, we can't have it hatching early from all the commotion it just went through," Joshua instructed Abigail as he lead the others inside. Abigail nodded, running back inside to put the egg she was holding away.

"So I take it you raise other people's eggs and Pokémon here?" Jaspa asked, looking around the hall. It had a few pictures of groups of Pokémon, or of old owners – some of which in black and white.

"Yep, that's our job. Make sure that people's eggs hatch well when they don't have time themselves, or it's not safe for them to carry an egg around. We also look after already hatched Pokémon, mostly babies though, the Daycare in Solaceon takes care of the older Pokémon who just need a level boost for a gym battle or something," Joshua said, "So we have lots of incubators in various rooms, stuff like that," He added.

"I see."

"If you all want to give your Pokémon a chance to relax, then there's a bit part out back out in the open, its fenced in so no one runs off, but it's a good place to relax and play," The daycare worker said, walking toward a door to a room and then gesturing to a window on another wall, showing the outside.

"I put the egg back!" Abigail said as she burst into the corridor, from the door right behind Kite, thwacking him on the back of the head, making him fall over with Ducklett around his head, and swirly eyes, "Oops! Sorry!"

"The world… is spinning… and all I can see… are stars… and ducks…" Kite said; eyes still swirly.

"Come on, get up," TJ said as he and Nevee helped the dizzy boy up, though Nevee knocked him over nearly immediately after with her bouncing. TJ sweatdropped.

"You're sure right about him having the bad luck…" Joshua said, scratching the back of his head with a raised eyebrow and a sweatdrop, "Well, Abigail, good. Go check on the others, just don't pick any of them up this time, okay?"

"Alrightyo!" Abigail said, running off.

"Well, as I said, you're welcome to look around with supervision – as long as it isn't Abigail – and you can hang out, out the back too," Joshua said, "There are lots of other Pokémon out back though, so be careful if you're out there. Most may be babies but they can be rather hyper or overwhelming."

"Alright, thanks," Scarlet said.

"I'm going to go make sure Abigail doesn't break anything, we really can't afford for her to break eggs," The blonde Daycare worker said, sighing and going to follow Abigail.

"I think I'll let my Pokémon out outside," Scarlet said, "Anyone else?"

"I think I will too," Auberon said with a nod, patting his Poké Ball belt, "It's about time they all got some time out."

"Same here," Indigo said, then looking to Jaspa, "Jas?"

"Could you take mine for me? I need to talk to Holly, if that's alright with her," Jaspa replied, looking to the red-headed friend of Gem's.

"Sure, that's fine with me," Holly replied.

"Come out after then?" Indigo said, smiling. Jaspa smiled and nodded, handing over his Poké Balls, then watching as they went out and Nevee dragged out TJ, probably eager to see the cute baby Pokémon, followed by Kira and Lance who had begun bickering again, and Lucy and Hotaru who were sweatdropping and facepalming respectively, Kite also following with careful steps so as not to trip or something else unlucky.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Holly said as she looked to Jaspa, "Didn't have you down as one for chit-chat."

"It's about Gem. She told me everything, well… nearly everything," Jaspa said. Holly's mouth made an 'o' shape.

"I see… she must trust you."

"She holds a secret of mine, so it would be foolish of me to spread one of hers. We can trust her not to tell anyone anything if we really don't want her to, so we should do the same," Jaspa said simply, leaning against a wall, "But I must ask you not to tell Gem I'm asking all this. I promised not to pry, but as a researcher I can't let things lie so easily."

"I won't tell, though I'll only divulge a certain amount, Jaspa. There's only so much I want to talk about myself," Holly said, looking at him. Jaspa nodded.

"I understand that."

"Alright, so what exactly do you want to know?"

"What's the name of the team that turned you and her into what you are? …And why are they after Gem even now?"

~X~X~X~

**_(Outside)_**

"(And we're out!)" Asher grinned as he and the other Pokémon were released from their Poké balls. Grotle sweatdropped, Muddy facepawed, Bulby face-vined, and Eve… just giggled. The others all had random reactions along those lines, because I can't be bothered to go through all of them, I was tired when I wrote this.

"…Authoress, you up there?" Scarlet said with a raised eyebrow when she heard the final part of the sentence, "Authoress?" She only received silence however, making her shrug and focus back on the Pokémon.

"(Do you ever shut up, Asher? I could even hear you chattering from inside my damn Poké Ball, when you were still inside yours too!)" Grotle said, glaring at him.

"_Calm, you two…_" Guardian said, little hands together in front of her.

"(Arceus' Sake…)" Muddy sighed, facepawing again.

"You guys behave out here, okay? There's lots of baby Pokémon around, so don't go knocking any over or anything, or being too boisterous," Indigo said, "Okay?"

"(That totally ruins the fun though…)" Asher whined. Scarlet smacked him around the back of the head lightly.

"Oi, Asher. Not a good attitude that. What happens if you ever have little Pokémon, hm?" She said, hands on her hips. Asher stuck his tongue out.

"(Says the one who vowed never to have kids so Gem couldn't spy on 'em!)" Asher retorted, sticking his tongue out.

"(Break it up you two,)" Bulby said, pushing the two apart with his vines.

"Go on, go off and play," Indigo sweatdropped. The Pokémon almost all immediately complied, running off among the many baby Pokémon that were exploring the world around them.

"Heh, looks like Star's found some little friends, wanna go play over there Nevee?" TJ grinned, gesturing to the little Cleffa Nevee had recently captured, who had found a few other baby Pokémon, including two other baby Cleffa, and was happily playing. Eve and Cynders had run over nearly immediately after TJ pointed this out, and with a huge grin Nevee nodded eagerly to agree.

"I so bet I can beat you to the top of that tree there, Aube," Scarlet grinned, running over to aforementioned tree and jumping to grab a branch.

"You're on! You're so losing though, this is my element, literally!" Auberon said as he ran over too, up to the second branch in one jump, "I'll give you a fighting chance though."

"Oh get _over_ yourself," Scarlet said, rolling her eyes.

Indigo looked down as she felt a tug on her skirt, seeing Bulby, "Jaspa said he'd be out soon, Bulby."

"(Okay… Muddy, play then?)" Bulby said, beaming at the Marshtomp, who grinned and nodded, running off, Bulby running after her. Indigo giggled, before going to find something to do until Jaspa came out.

~X~X~X~

**_(Jaspa and Holly)_**

"I can't say much… Gem doesn't want me to tell everything… But… the name of the team, I can manage… They're called… Team Existence…" Holly said, leaning against a wall, "But don't bother internet searching their name, all you'll get is their claim of being a team who try to bring Pokémon and Humans closer… thing is no one knows exactly how until they experience it firsthand…"

"Existence… alright, thanks for saying. I've been seeing mentions of that word, but it seems that the people posting things about this purposely include the word in a way that it doesn't actually mean what it would…" Jaspa said, arms folded, "Exactly how big is this team?"

"It operates mainly just in Monoko. As far as we know, any involvement in other regions is minute, or too involved with TUA for it to be considered Existence really. But we don't know really, I haven't been involved with anything to do with them for years, they didn't chase me down, they never found out one of my secrets. I'm not telling you what that if before you even consider asking," Holly said, giving him a stern look as she almost instantly saw his mouth twitch to open.

"Alright, I won't…" Jaspa sighed, "…TUA and Existence are linked?" He then added, realising what she had said. Gemma hadn't mentioned that, and if she had he hadn't noticed.

"They work with each other as a matter of convenience, Existence gets Aura Users to experiment on which makes development easier, and TUA gets enhancements for their agents. And it stops a constant power struggle between them. That's what Nathen told us, anyway, he was a TUA agent who was sent for enhancements himself, so…" Holly said with a shrug.

"So… Gemma could really be at risk just as much as Scarlet and her family here? Bloody hell that woman really sticks to her job… Any sane person wouldn't put themselves at risk like that…" Jaspa muttered, looking down.

"Gemma can hardly be classed as sane," Holly said with a tiny giggle, "I know why they would still want her even now, Jaspa, but I can't say. It's a secret just like my own secret, and I just won't betray Gemma. She's been a great friend, to me and to Nathen, and she's got enough going on from what I heard."

"I'll keep everything to myself. I'd rather not be murdered myself, thank you, Holly," Jaspa said, giving a polite nod of his head before heading outside. Holly stood up straight and decided to go look around.

~X~X~X~

**_(Outside – Tree Top)_**

"Damn your stupid Elf gene…" Scarlet said as she finally reached the top of the tree. Auberon stuck his tongue out at her from his branch, swinging his legs.

"Told ya so," He said with a grin. Scarlet smacked him around the back of the head, "Hey!"

"Don't be cheeky you stupid boy," The raven haired girl said, giving a serious look, before just bursting out into laughs when she saw his confused and slightly weirded out expression, "Your face!"

"What's with the mom act Vampal?" The elf asked with widened miss-matched eyes. Scarlet shrugged, makin Auberon fall back Anime style, which in turn made Scarlet let out a shriek when she thought he was going to fall. She moved to help him, worry growing when he seemed to actually fall. Then… she heard laughing, and looking below her she saw he was still hanging from his legs on the branch. Auberon pulled himself back up to sit, but nearly fell for real when Scarlet hit him hard on the head and chest.

"Idiot!" She shouted, glaring at him, "This tree is high, don't bloody worry me like that!"

"Heh, never knew ya cared Scarlet," Auberon said with a teasing grin, getting another thwack, "Hey! Ow! Fine I'll shut up!"

"You are such a jerk sometimes, Auberon!" Scarlet said with a huff, before squinting as she saw something a bit back into the forest behind the daycare, pushing Auberon to hang upside down again to get a better view, ignoring a 'hey!' from him, "Is that… Oh man it's stupid Team Rocket again!"

"Huh? Where?" Auberon asked from his precarious hanging position, "Are they heading this way?"

"They don't look like they're moving, but they're not that far away… we better keep our guard up today," Scarlet said, before hopping down to the branch beneath them and grinning at the upside-down Auberon, flicking his nose, "Have fun getting down," She clambered down from the branches, Auberon trying to get back upright without falling.

"Ah shit…" He grumbled to himself.

**_(Inside)_**

"Cool, so this is how you look after the eggs?" Scarlet said, looking at a couple of white pulsing eggs which were rested on a column, with a half circle above them, beams of light making a protective circle.

"That's just how we look after the ones that are about two days away from hatching at the most," Joshua said, "Others are kept in incubators or on shelves depending on how long they should have 'til hatching."

"Jaspa would so have a field day in here," Auberon snickered as he looked around, being careful not to knock any eggs off their perches, "He'd name all of them, I bet."

"That would not surprise me," Scarlet agreed, "He'd probably even name and get right the ones with like just one colour or a widely spread pattern or something."

"Toooo true," Auberon chuckled. Scarlet grinned, walking back for a moment, then promptly bumping into a shelf, which knocked four eggs off their perches. Panicking, she managed to catch one in each arm, one on her head and one on one of her feet. Auberon facepalmed, going over and helping her out, "You, my friend, are insane."

"It was the only way to catch them!" Scarlet said, slapping him around the back of the head, putting an egg back on the shelf.

"You two okay over there?" Joshua called over.

"Heh, yep! Totally fine!" Scarlet called back, sweatdropping heavily, glancing at Auberon who just rolled his eyes and held in a laugh. Scarlet pouted, throwing an egg at him which he luckily caught, giving her a hard glare, "Still fine!"

**_(Outside – Kite)_**

"Miracle, wandering outside on my own and nothing has happened yet… maybe I'm having a good hour," Kite said to himself as he walked around the area, filled with the baby Pokémon. He managed not to tread on any, not have any fall on his head from a tree, or anything like that, so relaxed a bit as he kept walking around, which to be honest… with his luck isn't the best idea.

"Are we gunna attack or wat?" A voice then asked someone from behind a tree, making Kite jump and hit his head off a branch. He steadied himself and rubbed his head, ignoring the throbbing and the stars he was seeing, looking around a tree. The unlucky boy could see a familiar trio, a purple haired woman, blonde man and a Meowth.

"Them…?" He mumbled quietly to himself, "Oh man like I needed anything else that can be dangerous nearby…" Them dangerous? "Authoress?" Silence again, "That's getting weird…"

"Yes, we're going to attack you dimwit!" Gwen said, glaring at Meowth. Meowth hissed and stuck his tongue out at them, arms folded.

"Both of you stop it; we need to work together if we ever want to capture anything!" Gareth said, before getting a glare off the other two.

"Oh shut up you know nothing!" Gwen growled. Gareth sighed, holding his hands up in defeat.

"Fine fine, but if we fail again you can't blame me."

"I should warn the others…" Kite mumbled to himself, guessing easily they were obviously going to try and attack them, or at least where they were.

"Oh come on, how hard can it be to nab some blasted eggs?" Gwen said with a glare, rolling her eyes, "They can't even move!"

"But the twerps and twerpettes are there!" Gareth said.

"So?" Meowth said. Gareth facepalmed, falling over backwards, muttering something that sounded like 'I give up'. Kite slowly went to back off, trying to get away to the others, but he trod on a very large twig, which snapped, and made the trio look toward him.

"Oh snap…" Nice wording. This time Kite ignored what seemed like Authoress in the sky, but couldn't be, and tried to scramble to his feet.

"A twerp!" Meowth said as he spotted Kite through the trees, all three of them getting up quickly. Kite panicked more and managed to clamber to his feet, running off, "Get in da machine and chase da twerp!"

"Alright alright, geez!" With an anime-fast-jump the trio jumped into a machine that just randomly appeared from nowhere, and began moving it to follow Kite. Kite kept running, going to warn the others about TRm3 heading for the Day Care. He was surprised he didn't get run over.

…Okay, that was speaking too soon, as only a moment later Kite was run over by the machine, comically flattened on the floor with swirly eyes. He may be there a while.

~X~X~X~

**_(Back at the Daycare – Outside, Most of the Group)_**

"What the hell is that noise…?" Holly asked as she looked around.

"Hm?" Scarlet asked as she looked down from another tree, "What n-… Ohhhh, that noise," They could all hear the noise of something coming through the forest toward them, but couldn't tell what it was, except that it sounded rather…

"Huge…" Auberon commented, "Sounds huge…"

"…TR do you think?" Scarlet asked him as she peered through the trees to try and spot the source of the noise, "We did spot them earlier."

"That'd make sense…" Jaspa said from where he was stood below the tree, leaning against it, "If so, we might want to call our Pokémon back over here to use to fight them off, and so they can't grab them."

"And yet again the brain box comes up with a logical solution before we can come up with something insane, aw maaaan," Auberon whined. Jaspa sighed and resisted the urge to facepalm.

Indigo took action to the plan first, calling for her four Pokémon back to her, quickly followed by Jaspa, then Scarlet, and so on. No one had noticed Kite's absence yet, and didn't really have time to notice as the TR machine got closer. TR had given up on the chase after squishing Kite, but now decided going for the eggs was a good idea anyway. Even with the 'twerps' around.

"Yep, its them…" Lucy sighed, barely even fazed by their appearance – as were the others – she was clearly more annoyed at their persistence than shocked they had appeared. Their machine didn't help this time, it was basically a giant egg on legs and stuff… really? Surely they could do better than that… "Seriously, who the hell is making the comments in the sky?-! Its freaking us all out now!" Silence, "This is messed up… Holly, are you doing that?"

"How? I don't have any of the author gismos she has, and I'm right here!" Holly said, giving her a look.

"Heh dey're easily distracted! Ram past 'em!" Meowth said, pressing a button and making the eggmobile speed through the group, knocking them to separate sides. Most let out a yelp of shock, others just a grunt as they hit the floor. Holly, Lucy and Hotaru were first back up.

"They're going for the eggs…" Scarlet said as she got back to her feet slowly, "We better get inside!"

"Right!"

The Eggmobile was trying to get into the building by now, but of course, as it was huge it wasn't doing so well. So, using those trademark arms of Team Rocket Machines, it smashed into the windows to get inside. In the egg room, Abigail and Joshua both shrieked and ducked as glass flew into the room.

"Now grab da eggs, just dun' break 'ny o' its wasted stock!" Meowth ordered.

"Who died and made you boss huh?-!" Gwen barked. Gareth was near ready to jump ship… or jump egg, whichever.

"He's just stating a fact there, Gwen…" He said.

"Shut up you know nothing!" She snapped. He honestly considered smashing in the wall with his fist – like he could… - and then jumping from the darn machine. Meowth sighed and started to manoeuvre the arms to grab the eggs in groups, not just one at a time. Abigail and Joshua were quickly getting back to their feet after the shock made them panic and fall to the floor to protect themselves. But neither of them were carrying any Pokémon that could attack the arms, so there was nothing much they could do.

"Dammit! You give those eggs back!"

"Hm… nah," Meowth snickered, grabbing more eggs as he spoke. Outside the group had reached them, along with their Pokémon, and were ready to try and beat this thing until it was a scrambled mess. ...Yeah, that was a bad attempt at an egg pun.

"How're we gonna break into this thing?" Scarlet asked, "We need to blast 'em off, but we can't damage the eggs they've grabbed."

"Some of us should get inside and break the arms, to stop them grabbing any more eggs," Jaspa suggested, "Indigo and I could go in," He then added.

"I'll go in toooooo!" Nevee said, bouncing on the spot as ever. TJ by her side nodded to say he'd go in too, probably just because Nevee was.

"Alright… the rest of us will work on it out here," Hotaru said. The others nodded in agreement, and then the four ran inside to deal with the arms that had smashed in. The ones outside turned to each other.

"Alright, how do we do this then? It'd be helpful if we knew if there were any weak spots…" Scarlet said, looking around the egg shaped machine.

"We can help there," Lucy said, "It shouldn't be hard for us to spot weak spots in it with aura sight."

"Alright, you do that. If we hit the weak spot with fire, water, then grass or any other attacks, we should be able to break the metal, right?" Scarlet asked. Holly gave a nod this time.

"Yeah, that generally works if done on the right spot. Hope the guys inside have a similar plan; I doubt any of their Pokémon has a strong enough cutting attack except maybe TJ's Grovyle… So the same approach as us might be best for them," The Blaziken implant said, hands on her hips, "Well, Hotaru, Lucy, do your thing then."

"Rightyo," Hotaru said as she and Lucy both closed their eyes looking at the egg. The landscape turned into one of no colour spare blue and the shades of the auras of the people around them, and they could still see every shape around them easily. Focusing on the egg, they both could see the difference in the shades which were present, showing that most of the structure was solid and would take quite some breaking, but through this they could see in great detail where the structure appeared to be weaker, and using a quick basic trick they illuminated the area they had spotted.

"There," Lucy said, "Hit it there."

"Let's give it a minute, they need to get the arms broken first and then we can blow it and get the eggs out," Auberon said. The others nodded.

**_(Inside – Egg Room)_**

"You guys okay?" Jaspa asked as he and the others ran inside.

"Oh bog off twerps, geez!" Gwen yelled from inside the machine, though she was ignored by the group of four and the two daycare workers.

"Yeah, we're fine! Not sure if the eggs will be if they keep grabbing them with those damn hands though!" Joshua said, glaring at the machine which made the occupants snicker, "We have to stop them!"

"We know, the rest of us our outside figuring out how to burst in the back and get the eggs they've taken already, we're here to destroy the arms," Indigo said, quiet enough so that only the people outside the machine would hear. Abigail gave a frantic nod.

"Good!"

"Come on. Indigo, is Marshtomp Ready? Ivysaur is, and according to Nevee so is Cynders. TJ's Grovyle's up for his part too," Jaspa said, looking to her. Indigo nodded, gesturing for her Pokémon to go forward, "Nevee, you've gotta start off, remember?"  
"Yep!" Nevee said with a nod, "Cynders you ready?"

"What are dey up ta?" Meowth said, continuing to grab eggs. The others shrugged. The little Cyndaquil had by now nodded at his trainer, and had small flames forming in its mouth, "Ha, like dat'll do a ting."

"Alrighty, fire it Cynders!" Nevee ordered, pointing a bit too enthusiastically as she did so. Cynders nodded and fired the ember attack at the one arm, heating a part of it up quickly. The people in the egg got more confused as this happened, and as a result still felt perfectly safe as they felt it could do nothing.

"Marshtomp, you use Water Gun!" Indigo commanded shortly after, Marshtomp happily obeying the order and hitting the arm on exactly the same spot, cooling the metal down again rapidly. Jaspa knew his cue, and looked to TJ as he told his Ivysaur to prepare an attack.

"Grovyle ready to slice the other one?" He asked, again so only the ones out of the egg could hear. TJ nodded.

"Yeah, he's ready," He said, looking to his Pokémon who nodded at him.

"Good. Alright, Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!" Jaspa instructed, the grass type nodding and firing off the attack, hitting the same spot dead on again. At the same time as this, TJ ordered a Leaf Blade attack, and his Grovyle obeyed, slicing straight through the second arm with the charged leaves. The first arm broke when the weakened section was attacked with the speeding leaves.

"Whaaaaa?-!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Catch the eggs they were holding!" One of them in the group called, Abigail and Joshua reacting first to grab the falling eggs.

"Now it's up to the ones out back," Jaspa said.

**_(Outside)_**

The four outside the building saw the arms snap off, from two people on the right angles to see it, and heard the noise as they cracked and then fell.

"That's it! Alright, let's go then, Asher are you ready for this?" Scarlet asked the Charmeleon, who gave a quick 'Char!' and a nod with a determined look, as he always had, and face the glowing part of the egg shaped machine. Grotle was standing ready by him, and Lucy had her Prinplup out on Asher's other side, "Alrighty then Asher, focusing on that spot, use Flamethrower!"

"Char!" Asher charged the flames in his mouth and fired them at the glowing spot on the Eggmobile, replacing the aura trick's glow with the red glow of heat. Inside the machine, Gareth noticed the heat spot first, and tapped Gwen's shoulder.

"Uh, Gwyneth? I think we have a problem…" He said.

"What now?-!" Gwen asked, turning to face him, face still clearly annoyed. Gareth pointed at the hot spot on the wall, and Gwen furrowed her eyebrows, "What's that?" Before Gareth could tell the TR agent what it was, or to do otherwise, she touched the spot and jumped back with yelp shaking her hand, "Oh gee thanks for the warning! Ow!"

"But you… oh forget it…" Gareth sighed, shaking his head and looking down.

"Bubble beam!" Lucy ordered Pip, who again nodded and obeyed the order, firing off a flurry of bubbles that connected with the spot, which let off a small amount of steam from the sudden cooling. The final step was up next, and Auberon nodded simply to his Pokémon to give the order. Grotle fired off a spate of Leaves which hit the spot and cracked it badly, sending the cracks through the rest of the stronger shell of the Eggmobile. The three Pokémon cheered and high fived each other – well, in Grotle's case he got a pat on the back – as the egg completely snapped open and the eggs it had grabbed rolled out everywhere. TRm3 fell onto the smashed mess that was left behind, and gulped looking at the group.

"All of ya hit 'em at the same time," Scarlet said to all the Pokémon that were out. They all nodded and, some with smirks, fired off an attack of their choice and sent Team Rocket:

"BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The trademark little star appeared in the sky as they flew through it, followed by the small 'ting' noise.

"Hell yes they're gone, woo!" Auberon cheered, punching the air. Scarlet sweatdropped, shaking her head.

~X~X~X~

**_(Later – Inside the Daycare)_**

"Thanks for the help, you guys," Joshua said as he set one of the last eggs back in its place after checking it over. Everyone else finished putting away the other eggs at the same time, some turning to look at him.

"No problem. Those three always cause us trouble, we're used to getting rid of 'em," Scarlet said, shrugging and giving a small sigh, "They're so annoying though…"

"I ditto that…" Indigo said, leaning against a wall, "They won't stop bugging us."

"Well, we'd like to thank you if we can, well… most of you, we don't really have enough for all of you that we can give I'm afraid," Joshua said.

"Huh? Enough of what?" TJ asked, trying to stop Nevee bouncing too much so she didn't end up breaking the eggs around them. Joshua and Abigail chuckled and the male gestured to his helper, who grabbed some containers, which held four different types of Pokémon eggs, and each had a Poké Ball on top, "Oh! Well, that makes sense now I think about it…" He said, before sticking his tongue out at himself, Nevee giggling.

"We've only got these four though, so…" Abigail said, "The rest belong to clients technically…"

"Well, I can say Lucy and I really don't need or really want an Egg right now, so we don't mind," Hotaru said with a shrug.

"The majority of my training days are over, and I did nothing, so," Holly said, shrugging.

"As interesting as an egg would be, I don't really mind," Jaspa said, arms crossed and shrugging too.

"I don't really mind either," TJ said.

"Alright, well, that leaves four then," Joshua chuckled lightly, handing the egg cases out randomly to the remaining four, Scarlet, Auberon, Nevee and Indigo. Scarlet's was light red-brown on the top, and a darker red brown set of swirls around the bottom. Auberon's was all brown apart from three green dots on each 'side'. Indigo's was blue, with two white dots. And finally, Nevee's was pink, with blue around the top, and a smaller white section inside that.

"Whoa, thanks!" Scarlet said, "Our first Pokémon eggs!"

"Yeah, thanks!" Indigo said.

"Yay egg!" Nevee giggled.

"…I think someone better carry that for her or she'll drop it."

"Hey, guys?" Auberon then asked, looking around, "…Where the hell did Kira, Lance, and Kite disappear to?"

"…Good point…" Holly said, looking around, "Oh man have I lost them again? I'm not doing so good at this…"

"Hey guys, we missed something?" Kira and Lance said as they randomly walked in.

"Where the hell were you?" Hotaru asked, giving them weird looks with her eyebrow raised.

"…To be fair I really don't know. Whatever's been running this show today seems to have forgotten about us," Lance said, looking up at the sky, which was even more silent than it should be, or it seemed that way at least. Everyone in the room sweatdropped.

"Okay, so we've found you two now… but… where's Kite?" Indigo asked, looking around.

~X~X~X~

**_(Back where Kite saw the TR members first…)_**

Poor Kite was still laid flattened on the ground after being crushed by the machine, eyes still swirly, and feeling right down in his bad luck yet again. Wonder how long it'll take them to find him?

"I hate my luck…" He whined to himself.

~X~X~X~

**Me: God I am so so so so sorry about how long this took it wasn't meant to take this long, I tried my hardest but block stuck half way through! I did put up the sequel to this up though guys! Please check it out! It's got the new crew, the kids of these guys, in! Please? *pout* I need my current readers there because I need the next Gen from them too, from their OCs! So please? *pout***

**R&R!**

**Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!**


	64. Ep 63: Lakefront and my Apology

**Me: I'M SO SO SORRY FOR HOW LATE THIS IS REALLY! Over the past few months or so… I've… had a lot going on… especially within the last two months, and then even more especially during the last few weeks… one of you should know what I'm talking about. It's been really busy school wise, 'social' life wise, and I haven't been able to force myself to truly focus on my writing. I have done my best, I promise… but… so much has been happening. I've started writing my own original book; I've had exams, coursework, my first taste of teenage romance troubles, cosplay, anime obsessions, all kinds of other teenage drama. Yeah… jam packed with shit recently. Sorry it took so long… really…**

**Note: HOLY FUCKING GOD IT'S NEARLY THE SECOND ANNIVERSAY WTF?-! Oh god guys I'm really sorry… I didn't expect to slack this much…**

**Episode 63: Lakefront**

**"Last episode there was an interesting day at a Baby Pokémon and Egg Daycare centre, and we once again saw just how unlucky poor Kite can be. Now our group is back on the road, heading toward the Lakefront Resort at Valor, and soon are nearing the entrance."**

"Without Authoress interfering we get to places faster… doesn't take like twenty episodes," Scarlet commented as the group continued to walk, able to see the entrance to the Resort coming up. Jaspa checked the PokéNav for the timing for the remaining distance.

"We'll be there in about five minutes now I'd say," He said, putting the Nav away and shoving his hands in his pockets, Indigo latching onto his arm once again. Jaspa hid a smile again, though Indigo knew that he had smiled anyway, causing one of her own to form on her face, though she fought to keep it up when a wince threatened to break it, Jaspa accidentally knocking a bruise.

"Goody! Only two major interruptions the whole way here, it's a miracle," Auberon said, chuckling and shaking his head, grinning right after. Scarlet immediately sprouted a grin of her own, flicking one of his ears and then sprinting off toward the entrance to the lakefront. Auberon blushed, lightly winced, then sped off after the raven haired girl, yelling, "Hey! Scarlet you… you… Gah!" Scarlet looked back at him, stuck her tongue out, and then ran faster, giggling to herself the whole time. Auberon sighed and sprinted faster after her, shaking his head.

"We better follow, I don't need to lose anyone _again_," Holly said, folding her arms and shaking her head.

"Right, Gem won't be impressed if all her charges have disappeared whenever she may get back," Lance said, chuckling a little. Holly sighed.

"Not funny, I don't need her pissed off at me when she's already in a foul mood for various reasons," Holly said, sighing again and shaking her head, "Let's just hurry the hell up…"

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"I… got… you!" Auberon said as he tackled Scarlet over just past the entrance to the Lakefront resort and held her down, Scarlet letting out a grunt as they hit the floor. Auberon snickered and kept her against the hard ground, her trying to struggle free.

"Oi! Aube! Stop! You're crushing me! Fatass get off!" She protested, struggling, half tempted to use an aura blast to knock the paranoid elfin off her. She decided against it for many reasons, badly harming the elf not being one of them. …Okay maybe it was, but that didn't mean she was going to admit it.

"Calling me fatass gets you another minute of crushing!" Auberon said with a smirk, making her struggle harder.

"Stop crushing the Ketchum heir," Jaspa said as the rest of the group caught up to the duo, Holly sighing and pulling both up to their feet. Scarlet smacked Auberon around the back of the head, and he gave her a small glare, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder like he had many chapters ago.

"AUBERON!"

"I'm not even going to try stopping their antics anymore…" The red haired adult sighed, shaking her head, "Look, I'm not Gem but I know we need to stop getting so easily distracted and get onto doing _something_."

"She has a point," Lance said, "C'mon; let's go check out this resort."

"Auberon, it might be best to let her down…" Indigo said, giving Auberon a look. Auberon snickered and shook his head, shifting Scarlet a bit so she wasn't going to fall off when he moved around. Scarlet smacked his back hard with her fists, growling, kicking out. Auberon didn't look fazed.

"…I'm seriously giving up trying. You guys are crazier than my kids were at half your age…" Holly said, half sighing, half laughing, before starting to walk off into the resort, "C'mon, we can check the place out then have some time to relax after exploring this place," She glanced back at the group and gestured for them to follow. Each group or pair among them slowly began to follow her, Scarlet constantly hitting Auberon's back and trying to kick him – preferably in the face – with thrashing legs. Auberon used one hand to push her feet away from his face and him whenever they got close, eventually just holding her legs down by her ankles so she couldn't kick at all. Her punches grew stronger after this.

~X~X~X~

**_(Pokémon Centre – Lobby)_**

"It's sure lucky the Pokémon centre here still does rooms… Those Hotels looked damn expensive!" Lance said as they were given the keys to the rooms they would be using. Scarlet was still flailing around over Auberon's shoulder, Auberon still just keeping a firm grip on her, not letting her fall or escape.

"They sure would have been… You guys are so lucky. On my second journey I had to pay to stay anywhere, it was a small region and the Pokémon centres filled up quickly, so you had to pay for a night or two at an inn in nearly every town or city," Holly said, being careful not to mention the journey had been with Gem, "Took up a lot of the earnings from gyms and contests."

"You guys used to get paid for winning? Oh man that's not fair," Auberon said with a pout, adjusting Scarlet a bit and making her hit him even harder. Holly sweatdropped.

"Auberon, let her down now, seriously. Don't make me use the Authoress powers that Gem gave me to make you," The adult of the group said, giving him a look. Auberon whined, before just dropping Scarlet off his shoulder and onto the floor behind him, making her shriek and soon after growl, pushing herself up to her feet, "Scarlet, don't kill the elf."

"But…" She said, glaring at Auberon.

"No buts, got it? Come on, we should all put our things in the rooms; then we can go out and relax somewhere or something. It's a resort, there has to be something to do," Holly said, looking at the whole group, "Go on, scram all of you! To the rooms then go explore! Go!"

Everyone sweatdropped, before slowly starting to file up towards the rooms, Hotaru and Lucy staying behind and looking at Holly, who looked back at them with an eyebrow raise, putting one hand on her hip. They walked over to her.

"What's up now you two?"

"Hotaru here' Lucy gave the other girl a slight glare, Hotaru sighing, 'forgot to mention a pretty vital fact about what's wrong with Authoress before she scampered off to go to her little friend or whatever. And by 'pretty', I mean 'life-or-death' vital…"

"…What?" Holly said, voice growing dead serious as she glowered at the shorter brunette, who looked back up with no signs of being shaken by the glare, just annoyance with herself and a matter of fact expression, "Alright, tell me right now! For god's sake if it's something that bad how could you not think to tell her?-!"

"I thought I had more time to do so! And I just didn't think about it! Look, I won't ask you to explain more of your past with Gemma or this Nathen, just tell me one thing… how much medical stuff does this Nathen know?" Hotaru asked, brown eyes as serious as anything, crossing her arms. Holly sighed, relaxing her stance a little and thinking.

"Last time I saw him he was good at the basics… simple heals of outer and inner injuries, occasionally fixing any spots of damaged aura, but not much… it's all the stuff most aura users could do when they learn heals I think… he even taught me a tiny healing move," Holly explained, thinking back to their adventures together.

"What about knowledge of injuries, the human body, composition and management of Aura?" Lucy asked, stepping one more step forward. Holly thought back again, sighing lightly, her memories strong but hard to find specifics in – unlike Gemma's mass of jumbled memories with all the specifics making more sense than the big picture sometimes.

"He knew enough about all that stuff to heal what he knew to heal… but past that… not much that I remember. But god that was years ago, and I know that in the time she's gone to its only been about three to four years since then, but I just can't be sure how much more he might have learnt… I just don't know girls," The Blaziken implant sighed, shaking her head, then turning dead serious again, "Now tell me what's wrong and why you need to know that!"

Hotaru let out another sigh, "Gem's condition will appear like any normal aura damage to a person who doesn't know what it is. Her shaking and stuff may be easy to hide but if he looks at her aura and sees the damage, he may automatically assume it is normal damage, and use an Aura heal on it."

"…So?"

The ex-commander let out another sigh, "This condition cannot be healed by aura heal. It's a condition that if something such as a heal is used, pushing another person's aura into the victim's body to try and heal them physically or in their aura, it'll… only make the condition worse. It can lead to more extreme pain, seizures, in some cases paralysation, others… comas and… death."

"What?-!" Holly's eyes immediately widened, going rigid and then glaring at Hotaru, fists clenching, "And you didn't think to tell her this sooner? For god's sake even if you thought you had plenty of time before she would go back to Nathen you should have told her this in advance! Ugh! That… Nathen's first reaction to something like this would be to try and heal it, if he thinks it's something perfectly normal! Whenever Gemma got even the slightest injury he would heal it up with whatever he could, and if Aura seemed the best way that's what he would go for! If Gemma ends up hurt or… d-dead… at his hands then god I am going there myself, telling him why it occurred, and you will be facing a fucking powerhouse on anger juice who will more likely than not put you in a coma or kill you himself!" She ranted, gritting her teeth. Hotaru backed off a step or two.

"Hey, don't shoot the damn messenger! I was going to tell her when I was allowed back in her room after your talk but that Maylu girl came when we were still gone! Wrong place, wrong time, it wasn't intentional!" The brunette said, raising her hands in her defence as she saw flames appear around Holly's wrists, "You… might wanna put them out and calm down before they come back downstairs to go out…"

Holly gave another growl before sighing and putting the flames out, shaking her head and shoving her hands into pockets, "Fine. But got if she dies… it won't be just Nathen you're going to have to deal with, got it?"

"I get it, I get it…" Hotaru sighed, holding her head in her hand for a moment, then just walking away, "I'm going to train to relieve tension… no one bother me unless they want an aura sphere to the face…" She walked out of the centre with her eyes on the floor, sighing to herself.

"She is feeling pretty bad about it…" Lucy said, "She made a dumb mistake, but she does feel bad."

Holly let out another sigh again, "I know, I know… Gemma's just one of my best ever friends… if she ends up dead I am not going to be a happy fire type…"

"She'll be okay… she's a strong one…"

"I know… but… there's so much about her that changes at the slightest provocation… Nathen used to keep her evened out… but… in the situation she described to me, I'm not sure if he can…"

~X~X~X~

**_Miles, Hope, Destiny – An Unknown Location_**

"My _gods_ are you a hypocrite!" Destiny said, walking behind Miles – who now had a huge black eye… not from Destiny… yet. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, sighing to himself, whilst Hope was following quietly behind both of them, unsure what to say, "You tell us not to go into these 'dangerous' buildings, then what do you do?-! Run into one and now look at you!"

"Oh why do you care? Ugh, it's just a black eye anyway! Could have been a lot worse, really. It was a tiny base," Miles groaned, touching his eye before shoving the hand back in his pockets.

"Exactly! If it had been a different base you woulda ended up worse off! But it's you so you'd _still_ have gone in! Hypocrite!" Destiny barked. Miles sighed again, shaking his head.

"Guys, stop it…" Hope said quietly from behind them, knowing she would be ignored.

"Just get over it! I'm going into those damn bases to try and get _information_ to help your mother's charges, who I gather are also your _friends_! If I don't get the information, then it's going to be damn difficult to do anything to help them! Just fucking live with it!"

"…Fine…"

The blonde boy shook his head, sighing once more, looking around them, "It can't be far to Pastoria, can it?"

"You lost our map. It's your responsibility to figure out where we are now," Destiny said with a shrug.

"Yeah yeah whatever…" He looked around, continuing to let out sighs, trying to look for a path that looked a likely trainer travelled area. Destiny rolled her her eyes, pointing toward a clearly marked path not far from them, having expected him to notice it straight away, and mumbled something along the lines of 'baka' under her breath. Miles gave her a sarcastic smile with a grimace, rolled his eyes, then kept walking toward that path, the girls following.

"Did you find anything out in there…?" Hope asked, breaking another long moment of silence that had reared its head.

"No… got my ass kicked before I got into their database… I need an even smaller base… or a larger one so I can make my way through crowds without being spotted out…"

"And more people to kick your ass."

"Oh shut up you tiny little weirdo!"

"Oh now you're going to get it!"

"Guys…"

~X~X~X~

**_(Resort Beach – 4:00pm)_**

"Woo this is an awesome beach!" Scarlet cheered as she jumped off a high rock into the water with a splash, doing one tumble in the air before landing. Auberon chuckled and just cannonballed into the water straight after her, coming up just before she did and splashing her when she surfaced, earning a smack over the head and a returned splash.

"You guys…" Indigo shook her head with a laugh, then executed a perfect dive into the water, in the style of someone you'd see competing. When she came back up to the surface of the water and brushed her wet hair back from her face, even the fringe she usually had, and grinned at everyone, Scarlet poked her cheek.

"Show off!" She said, pouting, folding her arms. Indigo stuck her tongue out, giggling, splashing her and then diving back underwater, pulling her under and then swimming off. Jaspa smiled from onshore, sat on the beach with his shirt open and swim trunks on, and plenty of sunscreen to keep his bad burning from occurring and giving him away, possibly. He didn't want to take any risks. He watched Indigo playing around in the water, not knowing the reason she had no bruises was because they were hidden, still falsely believing that the attacks had stopped. He just enjoyed watching her smiling and laughing – happy.

Nevee was on TJs back as he spun in the water, making her squeal and laugh, holding tightly and laughing as cheerily as ever. Jaspa had already made sure she wasn't going to burn. Also messing around were the twins, Kira keeping splashing the others, Lance failing to stop her. Kite was currently standing just off from the water, not really wanting to risk getting into any bad luck. Hotaru and Lucy were trying to relax by playfully sparring on the sand, whilst Holly was watching over everyone from sitting by Jaspa where everyone's stuff was.

"Scarlet don't kill Indigo!" Lance called over, trying to be a peacemaker. Scarlet had already dived after her though, whilst Auberon was left laughing his head off. The twin just sighed, shaking his head.

"Ah time to relax…" Holly said, leaning back on her arms, "This is the kinda thing I originally came on vacation for…"

"Bet you're not too happy with Gem for disrupting that vacation," Jaspa said, looking at her as he grabbed a book from his bag. Holly gave a shrug.

"She's a good friend; I don't mind doing her a favour. We've been through a lot together and she's been through a lot since I last saw her… so I really don't mind. I got in a good portion of my vacation before finding her… but I'm gonna have to leave before she gets back most likely," Holly said, leaning back more, looking up at the sky behind sunglasses.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Jaspa c'mon! Stop being a stupid ass spoilsport and come in the water and play with your girlfriend!" Auberon taunted, grinning and waving his arms around. Jaspa gave a light sigh, folded the corner of his book and took his glasses off, folding them with one hand in a swift motion, putting his book down and placing the glasses atop it, making Auberon blink for a moment.

"Just so you know… the only reason I'm coming in… is to kill you!" Jaspa called over, hiding a smile behind a smirk and then running as fast as he could (without passing human limits) into the water and straight at Auberon. The elf gulped for a moment before putting his arms up to defend himself, Jaspa grabbing onto his arms and trying to wrestle them out of the way, this whole time trying not to burst out laughing. Auberon however, realising the boy was being _playful_ for once, just laughed and started to wrestle back, splashing about in the water as they both tried to keep their footing. Jaspa made sure not to tap into his extra strength… well, not much anyway – whilst Auberon just used whatever strength he had, which was probably on par, if not a little more, than Jaspa's base strength.

"Well wouldja look at that! Jaspa's got some childishness left in him, miracle!" Scarlet said in slight awe as she and Indigo stopped their chasing, Indigo starting to tread water just a little behind her. A smile broke on her face, happy to see Jaspa having normal interactions with the group, realising that perhaps her lie – which she had no intention of telling him to truth about still – was setting his mind enough at ease to allow him to act normally. She giggled along with Scarlet, as Jaspa and Auberon fell into the water and started flailing about individually to get up again, Jaspa easily getting up faster than the boy, shirt now stuck to him and see through, and his hair completely drenched. Auberon eventually just sat up in the water and blew hair out of his face, glaring up at the now laughing Jaspa.

Nevee heard the laugh, looked to him, then beamed happily and giggled more, which in turn made TJ's smile grow too. Kite was still being a coward and staying out of the water, not wanting to be hurt. It's not like Gem's here or anything, if she was the fear would be understandable… but she's not. He's just a coward.

"Jaspa, you, will, die," Auberon said with a small grunt, standing up and going after him.

"Good luck with that," Jaspa said with a chuckle, going out deeper into the water and swimming off. Auberon was quickly using his natural abilities with nature to keep up, though Jaspa was using some of his strength and speed.

"Thiiiiiis could take a while," Scarlet chuckled. Holly laughed lightly to herself, rolling her eyes and leaning back, wondering how her friend was doing.

~X~X~X~

**_(Somewhere – Emerald Ketchum – During this time)_**

"I hate hiding out it's so fucking boring…" Emerald whined, sighing and looking around her little hideout. It was dull, crowded with her stuff, and wasn't that comfortable, but if she had to hide, she couldn't stay in luxury hotels by using her last name now, that would open her up more to the people after her. So, dodgy old flats or motels had had to be what she lived in, moving around a lot. She tried to find ways of finding her family and getting them free, but she had no one to help, and no resources.

"Eugh, do we really have to come to this _shithole_ to get someone? I'd rather have given the job back to those high rank pussies!" A familiar 'male' voice said, making Emerald jump. A female sigh followed the voice, and Emerald was immediately on high alert, closing her eyes to look for the two sources. She saw two auras, and jumped back, standing on the bed forming two spheres in her hands.

"Seen us? Oh well, what you expect with Ketchums I guess," The female voice said, as the two figures flickered into view, and Emerald tensed more. The soldier ranks, our old 'friends', Quincey and Rin had appeared and were both looking right at the Ketchum, smirking.

"Oh hell to the no! You are not getting a hold of me, before you even say a frickin' word!" Emerald growled, prepared to attack them at the slightest hint of danger. Rin rolled her eyes, looking at Quincey, who just snickered.

"We got your parents, feisty bitch. I think we can handle you. Want your niece and nephew hurt? Hm? Or the rest of your family?" Quincey said, smirking. Emerald growled, charging more aura, allowing her eyes to glow, but then seeing how serious their faces were about this, and seeing images of what they might do in their eyes, she slumped, glowing stopping, spheres dissipating. Rin smirked, stepping forward, grabbing her by her wrists and jerking her to the floor, restraining her and blocking her mouth.

"Good girl. Now, not even a hint of going against us, or you're doomed, and so are your family. Got it?" Emerald nodded at the words, closing her eyes, silently apologising to the remains of her free family for being so weak.

~X~X~X~

**Me: …That it? I done it? PHEW! …Yeah that took like 3 months or more, nothing to be proud of… I'm seriously sorry guys. I hope I haven't lost any readers… next chapter will be the contest, so I have a basic idea of that (or will soon enough, I might work on DtF or TP first, they've been neglected too). But, it's a contest, so… You never know what my speed will be like. I've been falling behind on homework so I might struggle. I'll do my best, I promise! D:**


	65. Ep 64: Contest Time Again

**Me: Contest time! I have no idea how this is going to work out… *Sweatdrop* I can try and drag out appeals this chapter I guess… Oh man…**

**Episode 64: Contest Time Again**

**"Last chapter: We saw the group arrive at the lakeside resort, and head off to the beach to waste the remainder of the day away whilst they waited for the contest. We saw how the unlikely trio of the group's secret recon workers were getting on, or… _not_ getting on as a more accurate description, description. And once again, we were shown that Authoress doesn't have to be around for trouble to occur…"**

"Time for another contest then… At least I don't have so much pressure to get the ribbon to even up with everyone… I'm mostly on par with most people spare a few, I think," Scarlet said as she brushed her hair out ready for the concert. After a moment of silence, she blinked, deadpanned, and facepalmed as she remembered she was alone in the room. She hadn't got another female coordinator around to talk to, so she just spoke to herself… and had been doing so for a half hour. That explains why she was being blanked. She was an idiot, "A total idiot… Ah crap I just did it again… and again! And a… Oh just shut up you stupid girl…" She smacked herself on the head, causing her curls to bounce and shake, then shaking her head rapidly causing the same effect but at a higher level.

Checking her reflection, she smoothed down the red silk part of her dress, which fell from roughly the waist downwards to her mid-calves. The upper half was a black corset style, with lace from the top of that up over her shoulders. She wore high black stockings, and red slip on shoes. Then realising that her attacking of her head had messed her hair back up, she whined to herself and brushed her hair again, trying to get the mass of curls under control, and pretty much failing miserably.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"About time you got through here," Lance said, looking to Scarlet as she walked into the room where all the coordinators were gathered, whilst one of the appeals had already begun. She held her Poké Ball tightly in front of her, standing beside him, "New dress again?"

"I was having… trouble. And yup, I got to choose my own without authoress bugging us. At least, I think I chose my own… who knows with her controlly things," The young coordinator said, shrugging her shoulders. Lance shook his head with a soft laugh, looking up at the screen as Lillian announced the end of the appeal.

"**And that was December Moon! Next up is…**"

"Wait, December?" Scarlet said, looking at the screen, seeing the familiar teen run off stage with her contest outfit flowing out behind her. Lance tilted his head, looking at Scarlet with a raised eyebrow.

"You know her?"

"She's one of the people Big Mouth threw in with us at one point, we haven't seen her or her friend July for ages, guess either Big Mouth had this set up in advance, or this is just some weird coincidence! But going by how I didn't see her appeal, so it wouldn't be described, she probably set it up," The red eyed girl said, shrugging her shoulders, before looking to the entrance tunnel as December walked back in, waving over whilst standing on her tip toes, to be seen past the older competitors, thinking to herself something along the lines of 'how does Gem manage', before managing to get the girl's attention. She smiled over, waving back, then ran over with her shiny Vulpix, Pixie, behind her, bounding along with her toward the two young coordinators.

"Hey Scarlet! Long time no see, 'ey?" Deci said as she reached them, grinning widely, eyes a lighter blue than normal, not the icy we usually see. Scarlet grinned back and nodded.

"Yup! Sure has been! July watching up in the stands?" The raven haired girl asked. December nodded, giggling.

"Yup, sitting up there watching me. He's on four badges now, same here. And I have two ribbons, you?" She brushed a white piece of her black hair out of her face, then putting her hand on her hip.

"I have two ribbons now, thank god. I thought I wasn't going to get any at all for a while, but I'm on track now I'd say," Scarlet said, pretending to wipe sweat off her forehead with a relieved 'phew' like sound, "So we're on equal grounds. Except you guys have more badges than our badge collectors," She added.

"You heading to Pastoria then?" Deci asked, arms folding, "And how come I can't hear anyone's annoying voice in the sky?"

"Big Mouth is off somewhere with some little boyfriend or something, someone she keeps popping off to visit. I swear she's probably banging the guy, but meh, its authoress so her huge mouth probably puts anyone off. And just how annoying she is in general. Anyway, yep, we're off to Pastoria now. The others need to get their badges, and I think there's another contest too, so win win situation I guess. We need to catch up. With authoress off in some other world the writing for this has gotten slow. Notice how we were stuck in the same position, in the middle of sentences, for several days?" Scarlet ranted, hands on her hips, rolling her eyes, making the other two sweatdrop but nod at what she was saying, "Well, god knows what happens now. I bet you guys will somehow magically decide to travel with us, just like Kite did when he appeared, and so on so on. Authoress definitely had this all planned out in advance so she could go get in that guy's pants. Bet some weird shit is gonna happen. Aw yeah, she can't tell me off for swearing! Woo!"

"…Scarlet, what are you _on_ today?" December asked, giving the girl a freaked out look, Lance and a few other innocent bystanders looking about the same.

"You know? I have honestly no idea," Scarlet said, before promptly falling over backwards randomly. Everyone could only stare with the most confused looks you've ever seen.

"…I'm… just gonna go on for my turn…" Lance said after a moment of weird silence, stepping around the girl and making his way to the stage. December continued to stare at Scarlet, wondering what on earth just happened.

~X~X~X~

**_Lance's Performance_**

Lance ran on stage after his name was officially called, throwing his Poké Ball and calling out for his Vaporeon to take stage, the blue Eeveelution appearing surrounded by bubbles and electricity. It let out a high cry of its name, beating the bubbles away with its tail, letting the electricity spark around it, taking minimal damage from it but not showing as such.

"Alright Aqua, use Aurora Beam and Ice Beam combination!" He directed, the water type releasing the multicoloured beam, quickly followed by the Ice attack at the same time, mixing as they were fired from its mouth. The effect it created was magnificent, the ice absorbing its fellow ice attack into its power and beam, colouring the ice multiple pastel colours that sparkled in the artificial light, coating the floor and walls around the Pokémon. Lance smiled to himself as the combination worked in practice, and recalled his next move, grinning and glad that he had come across a TM (no, it wasn't stolen from Authoress. That was only what the main group did… mostly), "Good one! Now, skate and then Scald!"

Aqua used its scales in a way that it created enough friction to skate over the ice with control over its movements, shimmering in the glittering colours and shining surfaces, showing off its skin that was perfectly water adapted. Then, without warning, it let loose a large burst of boiling hot water, evaporating the ice in seconds, sending bursts of colour and sparkles into the air, falling around the room. Lance grinned, whistling for Aqua to come back.

"**Beautiful!**"

"**Remarkably Stunning!**"

"**That whole appeal was gorgeous.**"

Lance bowed and thanked them, running off stage to the coordinator room again.

~X~X~X~

**_Stands_**

"Why do I get the feeling that Scarlet has been being weird?" Indigo said after the initial discussion over Lance's appeal had passed. Everyone just looked at her for a moment, before most of them simply answered with 'Because it's Scarlet'. Indigo sweatdropped, but shrugged and nodded, agreeing with them and laughing lightly, then leaning against Jaspa, wincing as his arm knocked a bruise when he shifted it. She really needed to get better at hiding winces like that.

"Deci will have met Scarlet in there by now then," Juli-… July said, sitting in a seat near the group, throwing a glare up at the sky, "Are you sure she's not there?"

"As far as we know she's off with some boyfriend or something," Auberon said with a shrug, leaning back in his chair, somehow (And with ironic timing) falling off the back of it into the people behind him. As usual.

"…With stuff like that I'm starting to wonder if she still has control over you guys, but she's definitely gone to Nathen. And he's not her boyfriend, so stop calling them that, okay?" Holly said, hefting Auberon back to his seat, smacking him around the back of his head, "It's a bad subject for her, geez." She got weird looks after that, from everyone apart from Jaspa who had been informed of the whole story on the roof of the centre.

"Well, she isn't h-…" Auberon started, before getting a glare off of Holly.

_"God kids can be so insensitive sometimes… if they had actually gone through half the things we had…_" Her eyes briefly landed on Scarlet as she ran in, _"Though I guess if she said anything… well, she's going through bad things too, I guess… and the others have their issues… but god, we…"_ She sighed, knowing she couldn't even justify her own thoughts. They had been through a lot, yes, but these trainers were ten, a few years younger than they had been, and were also having issues with TUA and others.

"It's Scarlet up," Indigo pointed out to those who hadn't seen her run on, making everyone focus.

They watched her run onto the stand position for the coordinator, drawing her chosen Poké Ball and throwing it to release the inhabitant. Out of the released red light jumped the yellow mouse, surrounded by pink hearts, which grew in size until bursting into an electric seal.

"Pika again? She used her last time!" Auberon said, "That isn't the best strategy immediately! By doing that she's just ending up boring the judges with the same Pokémon!"

"Auberon, calm," Holly said, "I dabbled in coordinating, and this is actually a way to work in the Judge's favour. Her appeal with Pika must have been good, right? She won her last contest, didn't she? Well, by bringing out the same Pokémon who pulled off a good appeal, she's making the judges think back to that, and subconsciously they will take into account her previous good performance. It can mean that if a small mistake happens, they overlook it due to past experience. Don't fret, geez," Holly said, rolling her eyes, refraining from mentioning it was a tactic Gem had used, considering everything they didn't know.

"…I guess that makes sense…" Auberon said, relaxing back a bit more, watching her.

"It's interesting that she managed to get a seal within a seal. Authoress' supplies again?" Jaspa said, looking at the rest of the group. July was still pretty shocked the boy was being social. He hadn't been accommodating last time they had met, as he had been with everyone else they met.

"Probably, she does like rooting around in her supplies a lot," Indigo said with a sweatdrop, shaking her head, "…Then again most of us do."

"**_Alright Pika, use Electro Ball!_**"

"There is no way you can link that to your little idea of a strategy," Auberon said after hearing the order, looking at Holly, "She used that move last time!"

"There's more than one way to use a move, Auberon," Jaspa pointed out, before Holly even opened her mouth, prompting her to say 'What he said' and shrug.

This time, the Pikachu let out a series of Electro Ball attacks, which flew out and then hovered in the air around Pika, mostly in front of her. They sparked with electricity; spinning on the spot, shooting small sparks everywhere, just about missing the audience and judges. Scarlet looked relieved that it hadn't gotten out of hand, as some of the group had seen in her training sessions.

She then ordered another move, and Pika separated into several copies of herself, running at the balls of electricity, slamming into them and disappearing as the balls sparked into hundreds of small electric bursts, covering the field again. However, there wasn't a Pikachu left, making everyone wonder where the real Pokémon had gone.

Auberon was about to speak, no doubt something else about strategy, when the earth burst up under a large ball of electricity had formed from the sparks, Pika letting out a high charged Thunderbolt which powered the sparks up to their near highest level, right before the yellow mouse jumped up straight through them at high speed, scattering them again and making her fur spark.

"…Okay, I'll give her that she's done better than I thought that strategy would let her… that was all about sticking in the judge's mind, wasn't it?" Auberon said after a moment, speaking over the usual passing of comments from the judges, which went along the usual positive lines.

"Exactly. See, you have a lot more to learn about judging Contest strategies, Auberon," Holly said, chuckling lightly. Auberon shrugged.

~X~X~X~

**_Co-ordinators' Lobby_**

"Well done Scarlet!" Lance said, patting her shoulder as she came in. Pika hopped between each of their heads repeatedly, letting out squeaks of her name and tapping their noses with the end of her tail, making them laugh.

"Thanks. Not my best… but I wanted to save Asher until the battles, if I get through, and I couldn't think of an appeal for Bunny… so I just went with Pika again and hoped that strategy would work out…" Scarlet shrugged, petting Pika when she finally settled on her head.

"It should do. You're picking up strategies well for being ten," December said, looking at the raven haired girl, folding her arms. Scarlet shrugged again.

"Probably thanks to Auberon. He never shuts up about strategy during people's battles and stuff, not that he knows anything about contest strategy really besides 'look pretty'," She laughed lightly, sitting down and letting Pika hop onto her lap, continuing to pet the small Pokémon as she let out coos of her name, nuzzling against her trainer's dress, relaxed. The other two sat beside Scarlet, Lance leaning on the wall, December leaning forward on her knees.

"So many people think that's all there is to contests, but it's not. Sure, making pretty moves is part of it, but it's all about getting the Judges' attention with looks, strength, clever tricks. It's about getting noticed more than just 'pretty moves'," Deci said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Exactly! Scarlet half exclaimed, throwing her arms up, "Trainers are so ignorant," December coughed, "Trainers who are _just_ trainers," Scarlet elaborated, sweatdropping.

"That's better."

"It's going to be a while until we know who's got through, huh?" Lance said after a moment. Scarlet nodded.

"Yep. There's lots of people to go. Guess we better just watch and evaluate our own chances," She said, leaning back and looking at the screen.

"Yep, ditto that. Time to see our competition," December leant back as well, hands on her lap, clasped.

~X~X~X~

**_Many Appeals Later - Stands_**

"**And it's time to announce who is proceeding to the next round!**" Lillian announced, making everyone who had either stopped paying attention to the appeals altogether, or who had tuned out during the interval for the decisions about who would move on, all look up and pay attention again, spare the odd person who fell asleep.

The screens all lit up, blank cards appearing to represent the eight people who would go through. One by one they started to flip over to reveal the coordinators, and soon both Lance and December's faces were shown, making everyone happy, and their specific companions cheer. A little in July's case, a full blown scream from Kira. Hyper, as usual.

However, as the last card turned, Scarlet's face was not revealed, and our group fell silent again, some looking a little stunned, Auberon looking a little ashamed, almost as if he felt his judgement of her appeal had jinxed it.

"Guess the others had more visual appeal… brains wasn't enough this time…" Holly said, sighing softly, "Man, normally that works…"

"Guess it's just not her day…" Indigo said, "Poor Scarlet…"

"Now it's just Lance and December to support," July said, "Maybe one of them will win instead."

"We'll just have to see…" Auberon sighed, leaning back.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Oh my god, a chapter?-! I'm so sorry this took so long! I had so much stuff to do, got wrapped up in a new series I'm planning a story for, and more! I'm nearly done with my exams for the year though, so I may have more time soon, promise!**

**This isn't the best comeback chapter, it really isn't my best, but I wanted to get it out so I cut it off a little soon. Poor Scarlet, it's all my fault for not having better appeal ideas that I think could get her through. **

**R&R!**


	66. Ep 65: Contest time again again

**Me: ****Hey guys! I'm trying to get my writing back on track now, really. So I'm going from one story to another as soon as the other is done. Recently, I have had some requests for older stories to be updated, but I'm juggling a lot as it is, with my new school year starting soon etc (yeah, short damn holiday), and the fact I have been having two holidays in quick succession within this holiday, with no computer to use, etc. Yeah… just lots of shit happening.  
…Oh yeah, and on top of that I'm trying to write a novel. At 16. So smart, aren't I? *heavy sarcasm***

**Episode 65: Contest Time Again Again**

**"Really, Authoress? Anyway: Last chapter we saw the contest get underway with the appeal rounds, and found out that once again our lead coordinator has not made it through to the battle rounds, even after gaining two ribbons in recent contests. Now, it's time to rejoin our heroes, and see what the reactions are like."**

"God dammit! I knew I should have done more training!" Scarlet yelled, stamping her foot hard and breaking the heel on the shoes she was wearing, muttering a curse word afterwards, continuing her strangely adult behaviour for a ten year old. Not counting the tantrum, of course.

"Scarlet, it happens to the best of us…" December, who's eyes had momentarily turned indigo and were now turning dark blue, said in an effort to try and calm the girl down, though it was clearly going to fail.

"Well I'm obviously not the best of us! It took me damn too long to get two ribbons after not getting through or losing! My last one barely even counts because I didn't fight!" Scarlet snapped back, pulling her shoes off and throwing them to the ground, sitting down and resting her face in her hands. December and Lance both sat beside her, December wrapping an arm around her back.

"You're doing well for your first year of travelling… You'll get your five ribbons easily. This is just one contest; you're not even half way through the region yet. There's Pastoria's contest, and more after that," Lance said, "You'll be fine."

"Yeah. Right. I can't even concentrate lately due to everything that's going on. I'm completely stuffed…" The raven haired girl sighed, curling up in a ball. Deci rubbed her back, sighing softly.

"Come on. They won't show the battle match ups for a bit, and if they do Lance can tell me. Let's go to the dressing room and get you ready to go back up to the stands with the others, okay?" The two styled trainer said in a soft tone. Her eyes seemed to be transitioning between dark blue and light green, and Scarlet slowly nodded as she stood her up and lead her to the corridor holding the dressing rooms.

"Authoress is so evil," Lance mumbled. If it was her.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"You going to be alright?" December asked as they walked into the dressing room, her shutting the door and grabbing Scarlet's clothes from her locker for her as the girl undid her dress slowly.

"Yeah… overreacted out there, I guess… I just…" Sighing, Scarlet put her hair back in its normal style and then returned to her dress, slipping it away and taking the clothing from December, dressing in her normal outfit. She returned Pika, who had followed her, and sat down. December sat on the mirror table, facing her, arms on her knees.

"It sucks losing, I know. I'm fifteen, I've been through loads of losses, Gyms and Contests and leagues and festivals alike. But it happens," The older girl said,  
shrugging. Scarlet sighed, nodding.

"I know."

"Just remember that, okay? Everything will be fine," December said, smiling and patting her shoulder. Scarlet gave one more sigh, nodding again, then clipping her Poké Ball back to her belt and standing up, grabbing her bag.

"Yeah. I know, well, time to rejoin the others. Tell Lance I said good luck," The Ketchum said, waving a hand quickly as she walked up the stairs out of the coordinator's lobby, passing a kissing couple and heading toward the lobby, from where she could head up to the stands to join our group. December sighed a little, but walked back to the Coordinator's area, shaking her head.

"Poor kid. It happens to us all though I guess."

~X~X~X~

**_(Stands)_**

"Hug pal?" Indigo said, holding her arms out as Scarlet came over to join them all. Scarlet immediately hugged her friend, taking one deep breath, before letting go a little as Indigo patted her back, "You okay?"

"Yeah… December gave me a little talk to make me think rationally, so for now I'm alright. I realised my mistakes… lack of training, relying on a strategy at the last minute that has a limited success rate…" The girl shrugged, taking her seat between Indigo and Auberon.

"I kept saying how it wouldn't work but apparently I know nothing about contests," Auberon said in an 'I told you so' voice which made Holly facepalm. Hotaru smacked him around the back of the head then looked away as if she hadn't, making him scowl.

"Don't rub it in please Aube," Scarlet sighed, leaning back. "Let's just cheer on the other two… wonder who they'll battle…"

"It won't be each other yet, that's for sure - knowing Authoress's manipulation. She's probably set it up so they'll at least have a chance against whoever they end up against and then put them against each other," Jaspa said, waving a hand casually as he finished speaking.

"The genius makes a good point," Lucy said, chuckling lightly. Jaspa chuckled under his breath.

"As usual," Auberon said in a bored tone. Jaspa chuckled a little louder, and everyone's faces still contorted in shock at the sound. Getting used to a Jaspa who not only acted social, but laughed and smiled also was hard.

And scary. Definitely scary.

Indigo nuzzled into his side, smiling lightly to herself. Definitely worth it, it was all worth it. He was happier than she'd ever seen him.

"**Now it's time to announce the battle match ups for the first round of battling!**"

Everyone's eyes turned straight to the screen that would show the decided match ups, looking at the eight cards as they shifted around the screen – backs once again showing instead of the coordinators' faces – shuffling into place along battle match lines which paired each set of opponents together. Slowly each card turned over, revealing the pairings for the quarter finals.

Lance and December were indeed not pitted against each other in the first set of battles, as per authoress style. December was paired against a female coordinator with puffy pink hair, like candyfloss, whilst Lance was against another female coordinator with a serious face and long black hair. The first girl's name was labelled as Ebony, the second girl's name as Sugar.

The group sweatdropped.

"…Authoress so has to be behind that… no way in real life would someone be called something so opposite to them…" Auberon said, hitting his head off the rail in front of them.

"How far ahead can this crazy woman plan?!" Scarlet said.

"Obviously a very long way…" Holly said, scratching the back of her head.

"Or, you know, it could just be a coincidence," Juli-… July suggested, "…Okay I take that back."

"Puffy hair!" Nevee exclaimed randomly, making everyone stare at her. She just giggled, hid playfully in TJ's shoulder, and beamed as everyone laughed. Distraction: Success.

~X~X~X~

The first battle passed by quickly. One of the coordinators was a strong trainer coordinator double timer, who was adept at the battle side of the contests much more than they were at the appeal side – one of the coordinators who must have barely scraped it through. Safe to say that didn't make Scarlet feel any better.

The opposing coordinator was younger, a dedicated coordinator who was brilliant at appeals and fancy looking moves, but not at dealing damage. Even though the trainer-coordinator's points dropped rapidly throughout the battle, it was over within less than half the time limit when the dedicated participant's Pokémon was knocked out.

Second up, it was the turn of Lance and the Dark haired girl, both taking to the stage and releasing their Pokémon almost at the same time. From Lance his Ivysaur appeared, surrounded by a flurry of petals, whilst for Sugar an Espeon appeared, simply surrounded by a shining black light. Lance had immediately dealt himself a prediction of loss due to the type match up, at least if her allowed her to get hits in. He knew that dodging gracefully and good looking attack combinations were the best way to deal with this.

Sugar clearly got frustrated as her points continued to drop further and further, her only getting in a few hits and taking only a quarter of his points by half way through the five minute time limit. The few hits she did get in slowly took their toll though, and Flora was beginning to look tired by the time the one minute mark hit.

"Alright then Flora! She only has a quarter of her points left, all we need to do is dodge and make sure our points and health stay high, or knock her out," Lance said to his Pokémon as he watched the clock hit '1:00'. The Ivysaur nodded, looking at its opponent and getting into battle stance, "Alright, let's try this! Use Growth, Sweet Scent and Razor Leaf!"

Flora nodded, planting its feet firmly as its bulb grew bigger and began glowing green, before shooting out a burst of pink dust that let off a beautiful scent as it hovered strangely in place in a tower above the bulb, the razor sharp leaves of the final attack beginning to spin around it and mix with it, making the leaves glow pink. Then, Razor Leaf shot at its opponent – still glowing – and caused another small chunk of Sugar's points to drop. The attack only collided with part of the Espeon's side as dodge was ordered, but the damage was done, and as the time continued to tick down there was only an eighth of her points left to get rid of to end the battle just over half a minute early.

"Psybeam!" Sugar ordered, gritting her teeth.

The multicoloured beam shot out and Flora dodged it just in time, though its legs on its right side did get grazed causing it to stumble when it stood. Lance gritted his teeth, keeping his eyes on the time. 0:15. Fifteen seconds left to get this battle done with. He'd either have to make sure he could hold out that long, or end it by defeating Espeon.

"This is a risk but… Solar Beam!" Lance ordered, gritting his teeth more as he watched his Pokémon start the move, its bulb glowing a bright white and starting to charge the energy. Sugar smirked a little.

"Psyshock!" She commanded, folding her arms. Lance cursed, and Flora tried to speed up the attack's charging process, but the sun wasn't as strong through the skylight as Lance had originally thought. So, as Espeon charged the blue and purple energy in three rounded shapes in front of her body, he could just pray that either the attack would release in time or that Psyshock wouldn't knock his Pokémon out.

Flora was moments away from finishing its attack when Espeon released the three rounded ball like shapes of energy at the grass poison type, slamming into it as it tried to release its attack. Flora yelped and was thrown back, the damage severe due to the typing and the strength of the attack, on top of the lack of extra defence Flora could have put up if it wasn't charging. With five seconds left, Flora was left barely holding itself on its feet and waiting for the end of the match, where points would be the decider. Flora's legs were shaking, and Espeon was unable to knock her feet from under her due to being tired from releasing her own attack moments before. The seconds ticked down, and as the bell went for the end of the battle, Lilian announced it as such – and the fact Lance had won.

Lance cheered and Flora allowed herself to collapse, looking relieved but tired as she passed out. Lance recalled her with a thank you, and Sugar cursed from the other side of the field as she returned her own Pokémon, walking off stage. Lance sighed a little, before shrugging and chuckling, walking off the stage too.

The third battle played out as a simple contest battle between two balanced competitors, who both used a mix of attack moves and combinations that looked good, lowering points and causing damage. By half way through, one side had lost half its points and the other's Pokémon looked as if it was getting weak from damage, whilst their points were three quarters full and the other side's Pokémon hadn't taken nearly as many hits.

The next half of the battle almost seemed to switch, and soon it was coming down to the narrowest of margins during the last thirty seconds. The battle ended with a burst of smoke, and both Pokémon lying unconscious in the arena, no way of telling which fell first. The decision came down to points, and the male trainer won.

Last up was December against Ebony, December releasing her Growlithe, Chloe, whilst the other trainer let out Delcatty. In this battle, it was like the first – with December being more used to using damaging moves that also had some flare to them. Ebony had immediately started the battle off by using Rain Dance and making everyone in the room squeal or groan as they were rained on, getting soaked. December knew she now had a disadvantage, her fire moves were less likely to work, and Chloe was already wincing from the water hitting her.

Delcatty clearly had an advantage as soon as the battle truly began, and December's points took a hit as soon as the first real move was pulled. Ice beam froze every raindrop it passed, creating a beautiful effect. Chloe's Flamethrower barely made it far enough to put the ice beam out before it hit her, and her movement seemed slow on top of this. To speed her back up, she used agility and focused on dodging moves and doing everything she could to use the rain and her now limited move pool to her advantage. She turned Delcatty's moves against her, slowly dropping her opponent's points as she lost some of her own, both Pokémon taking some damage.

By the one minute mark, their points were both at around a quarter, and their Pokémon were both weak. The rain was slowly turning into more of a drizzle than a downpour, and Chloe was better off for it as she slowly regained strength and speed she had lost to the water.

"Let's make used of the last of this rain! Thunderbolt Delcatty!" Ebony ordered, pink dress and hair bouncing as she clenched both her fists up in front of her. The cat let out a purr of its name, then glowing yellow it shot off the electric beam at its opponent. The air crackled with the electricity, and it hit the soaked fire type hard, causing her to cry out. But at the same time, Delcatty's teeth were gritted as he wet fur conducted the electric attack also, and she was holding the base power constantly around her.

"Fire Spin!" Deci said quickly, grinning as the attack spiralled around the beam of electricity that connected the two Pokémon, dropping Ebony's points and knocking the electricity away. It was pure luck the drizzle was now light enough for the attack to work, with only ten seconds of the battle left. As Delcatty struggled to get back to her feet, covered with burns, and Ebony yelled out pointless attacks that Delcatty didn't have time to follow through with, the buzzer went off as December was announced the winner of this battle.

~X~X~X~

**_(Stands – End of Quarter finals)_**

"Yay!" Nevee cheered.

"They both got through. Good, if they hadn't I'd have punched them, because if I got through I'd definitely get through the first battle round! Geez!" Scarlet said, raising her arms up and making the people behind her cough. She blushed, laughed nervously, and then put her arms back on her lap.

"Now, who wants to bet that they're going to be against each other in the next round?" Auberon snickered.

"No one will bet against it at all, Auberon," Lucy chuckled, shaking her head, "Its Authoress' way."

"Only a few minutes until we find out," July said, leaning back in his chair.

"More like seconds," TJ said, pointing up as he saw the screen light back up. Lilian announced the usual about the match ups, and the four remaining cards appeared on the screen, shuffling into position. After that, they turned around one by one, revealing the match ups.

And of course, December Moon was listed as the battle partner for Lance Piaggesi - Just as everyone had suspected.

"**And those two battles, as well as our final, will be completed after an hour interval!**"

"Let's go get some food!" Scarlet cheered, standing up. Everyone just sweatdropped.

~X~X~X~

**_(Computer Room – Interval)_**

Jaspa had left the group to eat and headed off to the Pokémon Centre's computer room as soon as he could; wanting to continue looking up what he had been the day Gem left. So logging on, he opened a search on 'Pokémon DNA Implants' and then searched for people in particular.

He looked through the basic information again, the hinting stories that had small illusions towards 'Existence' by the over use of it – which he guessed must be the name of the organisation that Gem would not name. Most authors of articles stayed anonymous, not wanting to be discovered as tattle tales he guessed, but he found someone who had named themselves, and quickly set about contacting her for more information.

He sent an email to them, mentioning the Pokémon DNA story she had mentioned which included her and her family, and also mentioned why he wanted to know – including his link to Gem. Within moments, he had an email back, with simply this:

_You know Gem? Where is she? Where's Nathen? I'll tell you all you need to know, just tell me if they're alive and where they are._

_Brylee_

He'd hit the jackpot.

~X~X~X~

**Me: …I may or may not have rushed the ending a bit in hopes of getting this out before I start year 11 tomorrow. Yes, I am back in school. Hurray. Not. *whines* I don't wanna go back! This year is going to be too hard! Plus, writing could deplete again… yeah, I know. I hardly update as it is, but I am trying! Plus, with writing a novel at the same time, including the insane amounts of planning… yeah, this is going to be chaos.**

**R&R!**


	67. Ep 66: Predictable Outcomes

**Me: Here we go, time to get this one out again! And joy, I have to write a proper battle this time – because everyone can tell who's going to be against each other this time. I'm just that predictable, 'ey? Well, I'm going to do my best to get this up during November – when I started this; I'd been having a mixed week, so it depends on a lot of things. **

**…Yeah, didn't make November**

**Episode 66: Predictable Outcomes**

**"Last chapter, we saw the contest continue after Scarlet was knocked out after the appeal round, due to the mistake of going for simplicity and mind tricks with her appeal. Lance and December passed through their following battles with ease, and are now in the semi-finals of the contest. Even without authoress around, the trainers watching the two from the stands can almost immediately guess what the next battle match up will be before the cards are even on the screen."**

"I bet you it'll be Lance against December," Auberon said, leaning back in his chair looking proud of himself, despite how everyone had clearly thought the exact same thing. Indigo smacked him around the back of the head, causing him to jump up a bit and flail.

"No point betting on it when everyone thinks the same, Auberon," Indigo said, "Well, except Nevee. But betting against her would be unfair."

"Aw!" Auberon whined, pouting at her. Scarlet hit him next, causing the same jump and flail reaction that Indigo's hitting had caused. The elf like boy glared at her, making Scarlet just laugh as she sat back comfortably. Nevee on the other hand just sat there giggling her head off, feeling sure the others were wrong despite the odds and facts.

It wasn't long then before the cards did appear on the screen, and everyone had the feeling their backed up suspicions were going to be answered. The cards appeared with their backs to the front again, displaying the remaining trainers momentarily – Lance, the male typical coordinator, December, and the male double trainer – before shuffling around with their backs forward for the last time. The lines were drawn to match them up, lighting up white, and then the cards turned.

"Yay!"

"What. The. Flying. Feebas?!" July exclaimed, with everyone else saying something along the same lines – minus Nevee and Holly who cheered and shrugged respectively.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"I denounce everything I thought I knew about this woman's methods," Scarlet said, raising her hands above her head in defeat as she slumped back dramatically, staring at the board. Nevee continued to giggle happily whilst TJ ruffled her hair, shaking his head with soft laughs.

The screen displayed the newest battle match ups as: Lance vs. Tiger, and December vs. Clover. Definitely not the Lance-December match up everyone had been expecting. If there had been formal bets made, Nevee would currently be the richest of the group due to all the money she'd receive off them.

"She so organised that to throw us the fuck off, she really can't resist messing with us even in tiny ways when she's away, clearly," Lucy sighed, leaning back.

"…Or she just doesn't have control," Holly suggested, sweatdropping, "You're all so paranoid, you know that? Did Gem really look in the state to do all this planning in like five minutes before she left?"

"We don't even know she's left! For all we know she could be spying on us from above again! I swear some of us have heard her voice!" Auberon said, raising his arms up and giving Holly a look after folding them. Holly just blinked.

"Yeah, he's the worst paranoid one of the group, just ignore him," Indigo said, waving a dismissive hand, "Anyone know where Jaspa is?"  
"I thought you'd know, you're the one clinging onto him like he's the only thing keeping you alive. Surprised you haven't died without him here to be honest," Auberon said, back to his annoying self.

"Oh thanks." Her cheeks had gone light red.

"He's probably off in one of the computer rooms," Hotaru said, "I think I saw him go into one earlier, he probably hasn't left it yet." She gave a shrug, leaning back.

"I see… best not disturb him when he's researching," Indigo said, shrugging as well as she leaned forward on her elbows, looking down at the battlefield, "So two battles to root for again, at least we don't have to choose yet."

"Good point," July said, "Though of course I'd pick Deci."

"Well I'd pick Lance so screw you _Julian_," Kira said, sticking her tongue out at the boy. July glared a glare of pure loathing at her, making her grin more.

"Say that one more time and I don't have December here to stop me hitting you," He said. Kira stuck her tongue out more.

**(Computer Room)**

_Jaspa_: So you say you know my Authoress?

Jaspa had set up an instant messaging connection with the responder to his email, after making her open up a little by giving her information about Gem that she said 'even Existence wouldn't know'.

_Brylee:_ Yes. I do.

She refused to tell him more than her first name, or how exactly she knew Gem, but she was willing to say what she knew about Existence.

_Jaspa:_ What exactly do you know about Existence? How?

_Brylee:_ Without my knowledge and against my will I was raised by a family of Existence members, even my brother was in on it and we were twins… I was the 'weaker' child so I wasn't given the genes.

Jaspa didn't take long to link 'genes' to 'implants', the term he had seen before talking to Brylee. This woman, wherever or whoever she was, knew more about this than anyone he could ask – and she was less likely to strangle him for doing so.

_Jaspa:_ What're their goals?

_Brylee:_ I know only so much, and that is something no one truly knows… even my brother was just a pawn in some game they played, he never knew their real intentions… But I do know that they've converted at least a million people into these implanted mutants worldwide…

Jaspa jumped: Over a million people had been implanted with Pokémon genes? His fingers hovered over the keys, unsure of what to say to such a statement, and just as he went to actually type something he heard the door behind him open. Turning his head, he saw Indigo peeping in, waving.

"Hey there, are you coming back to watch any time soon? Lance is about to face Tiger, that burly double trainer. Sorry to interrupt research, but…" She said, smiling a little shyly at him. Jaspa inwardly sighed, but outwardly smiled and nodded, quickly typing 'got to go' with fast flicks of his fingers and sending it to Brylee, logging off the computer a moment later. He stood from his chair, and walked to her, hugging her and smiling softly. Indigo barely contained her blush.

"I'll come back. Come on then," He let her go, then walked off; hand outstretched a little as he did so. Indigo jogged a bit to catch up, then grabbed his hand, staying level with him. He smiled.

**(Stands)**

"There you are dude! They've started now!" Auberon said, waving his hands around above him until the person behind him complained, causing him to slump in his seat. Scarlet rolled her eyes, ruffling his hair and tweaking his ears, causing him to squeak. She laughed and hid behind Holly, making the red head roll her eyes.

"Not like it's a huge battle. Wait, they're not against each other?" Jaspa said, coming to the realisation a lot later than he normally would. Indigo and some of the others gave him an odd look, though some just assumed Indigo hadn't told him the battle match up before they came back.

"Nope, Authoress threw us a curveball here." Scarlet said.

"I see. Let's see how this goes."

**(Stage)**

Lance called out a small Pokémon, the dragon type Gible who he had nicknamed Dragon after capturing him some time during one of his two Sinnoh journeys. The small Pokémon jumped out excitedly, surrounded by a Dragon Seal which was a mix of fire and purple streaks, and landed on its stubby feet. The Trainer-Coordinator, Tiger, let out a large Empoleon a moment later, surrounded by electricity instead of bubbles as most would use.

The battle began quickly, the half-trainer starting off with the first attack as he started a full on barrage of damage based attacks, none particularly appealing to the eye. Of course, his points slowly began to suffer, but Lance wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped.

He prepared himself before the battle, asking December how trainer-coordinators worked, and hoping for the best. He had Gible dodge a lot of attacks by digging out of the way, and got in a good hit of his own with Draco Meteor – no doubt stolen from some of the TMs in the store cupboard, and yes Authoress has TMs of every move, even those not on TMs – but otherwise, he wasn't doing too well. Right now his main hope was that Dragon would hold out through the attacks and their damage, and that the points on Tiger's side of the board would continue dropping as quickly as they were.

It was very close, but just as the Gible was about to pass out from the damage, with a final ungraceful attack ended the battle for Tiger as his points ran out from a combination of spectacular moves from Lance and boring damage based moves from him. Lance breathed a sigh of relief as his Pokémon became unconscious a moment later, but was startled as Tiger burst out in a yell.

"Hey! His fainted! He loses not me!"

"Um, that's not how it works kid. This isn't a trainer battle. Your points ran out first, you lose," Lillian said to him, one hand on her hip, other hand on the back of her head.

"No! You don't know how it works! Battles are only lost if someone's Pokémon is unconscious!" Tiger yelled, making the whole stadium fall nearly silent.

"…Security get this guy off of the stage."

A couple of large men came and grabbed the teen, returning his Pokémon for him and pulling him away, whilst he struggled.

"DAMN CONTESTS! THIS IS A GIRL'S SPORT ANYWAY! YOU'RE A LITTLE F-…!" His mouth was luckily covered before his foul language could begin spewing from his mouth.

"…**Well, I'm sorry for that brief interruption folks! Now, Lance Piaggesi is the winner of this battle! Onto the next one!**" She turned and muttered to the judges, her microphone just about letting the words 'banned' and 'circuits' be heard by the audience.

Lance simply sweatdropped, and walked off.

**(Stands)**

"…Well, that was odd." Scarlet said, scratching the back of her head, "Sexist pig?"

"…Pretty much," Holly said, sighing leaning back, "Faced one or two of them as a champion. They don't seem to realise how many gym leaders, frontier brains, elite four members and past and present champions are female."

"Idiots."

"…We three men suddenly feel very outnumbered…" Auberon said as he cowered back into his seat.

"Since when have we not been outnumbered?" Jaspa asked, raising an eyebrow.

**(Later… After the final Semi-Final Battle…)**

December had made quick work of Clover's choice of a grass type when it had come to her battle, her Glaceon called Glacia made the battle easy with both beautiful ice moves, and their super effective power against Grass types. Clover had left with no worries, congratulating December as he went, and the system moved on swiftly. Now, Lance and December stood opposite each other, ready for the least predictable battle of the contest. Almost every other battle had gone as our heroes had expected Authoress to have made it go, spare the small shock in the middle. Now was time for the real battle.

However, someone who wasn't there for the battles and pretty contest moves was making their way down the steps towards our group. A hand tapped Scarlet on the shoulder, making everyone look up. It was an officer, but not the typical male-version-of-Jenny officer, one dressed in an unfamiliar uniform to all but Holly.

"…Secret Police…?" She said, eyes widening.

"Scarlet Melody Ketchum?" The man asked, folding his arms over his chest, uniform brown and black. His face was hidden, as per their regulations, but he remained intimidating even without expression in his eyes or facial muscles.

"…Yes…" Scarlet answered cautiously.

"Please come with me."

"Why?"

"Your family's case has just been handed over to the SP. Please come with me."

"What? Why?! Tell me why!"

"Come with me."

"I said damn tell me why!"

"Just tell the girl, Dante, she's heard the mention of her family and is freaking out. Don't be a bastard," Holly said, giving the man a look.

"…You recognise me even under this." The man, Dante, said.

"Of course, Dante." Holly replied, voice monotonous, "Not going to forget you."

"Look, just damn tell me what's going on!" Scarlet yelled, fists clenching.

"…Emerald Louise Ketchum was officially reported as missing not long ago. She had booked into a dodgy motel but has now been declared missing by the owners of said dodgy location."

"…WHAT?!"

**(Unknown Location)**

"You're being a bad girl again, Brylee."

"Go away…" Brylee said, gripping her desk, growling silently, "You have done enough to torment me over the last 21 years, and I have had enough. It's not like I know enough to lead anyone to you."

"You're still being naughty. Braylen taught you better than this."

"I said go away. Bring up my bastard brother in this house and I'll kill you."

"Right, of course. You're not that strong, you have no implant."  
"Oh, don't I?!" She growled loudly, turning around with a golden triton suddenly in her hands, blonde hair floating as if in water, eyes glowing, legs starting to shimmer like scales.

"Feisty."

"Piss off or I'll use this. You're part fire. I can kick your ass."

"You're not doing yourself any favours. You're just trying to find Gemma, and Nathen. What's it for? Revenge for killing Braylen? Thanking them for it?"

"No. Catching up. And damn well getting their help."

"Not going to happen."

Then, a moment later, the man was gone.

~X~X~X~

**Me: I am so damn sorry for how long this took! A number of incidents where I damn near lost my ability to write these stories, as well as exams, typical teenage issues, and various other random lots of shit happening that have kept me from it. I am so, so sorry! Really! I rushed this, and its shorter than normal, but is all I got for now. **

**R&R!**


	68. Ep 67: Predicted Final

**Me: This is going to be updated maybe two or three times in a row if I can manage it, now. Because I have an awesome plot I just have to get to… oh, if anyone wants to know who Dante is? Check out DtF. He's just been introduced, even if it doesn't show how Holly knows him yet etc. Me and Final Heir are both working our butts off on the new project when we have the time, so my part is a big load of 'get the fuck up to date' most of the time.**

**Episode 67: Predicted Final**

"So you basically came here to tell me that some big secret force of police has taken over my parents' case, and my aunt is now also missing leaving me with what, one aunt left?" Scarlet said, staring up at the tall man, arms folded over her chest as she literally forced herself not to cry.

"Yes. Pretty much," Dante said, sighing, almost audibly rolling his eyes behind the dark glasses he wore. He'd put down the hood on his dark uniform now, clearly the most informal version, and his silver hair was now visible – jaw length, messy and slightly spiked.

"Great. Just freaking fantastic! I have one relative left before they come after me!" Scarlet yelled, giving up her calm composure and nearly going to hit the man before Holly grabbed her wrists and stopped her, immediately grateful she came out with her. Dante was a good man deep down, but he'd been trained to retaliate on automatic when he was attacked: young girl or not.

"Thank you, Holly. Look, girly, I don't take kindly to crap like that. I've seen things in my life no one should see, and I've learnt to fight back to any threat, small or large. I am here to help, do not make me regret it." Dante said, glaring a glare that even his glasses couldn't hide, "Understand, little girl?"

"…I understand…" Scarlet murmured.

"Now, I'm going to give you the case information during the break, and then you're going to go back and not talk of this until you are no longer out in public, got it?"

"Got it…"

"Good. Now I'll start."

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"So, Lance and December against each other at last… big mouth sure kept us waiting on this one… wonder who she'll have set to win, or if she's left it up to chance," Jaspa muttered, leaning back in his chair as he talked, though his mind was on anything but the battle right now. He had more pressing things on his mind.

"She likely left it to chance. She told us herself she can't fix the winners of every contest we're in," Scarlet said, shrugging a little as she walked back in, "If she could I'd force her to make me win every ribbon. With torture."

"Where's 'Dante'?" Auberon asked, looking upside down at her before leaning his head back up as she clambered over them all – literally – to get back to her seat. Holly chose the more sane approach of just walking sideways past their legs.

"He went off to his big bosses or something. Jerk." Scarlet grunted.

"He's been through a lot, don't knock him, he could still be working on the side of the bad guys but he's not. He saw sense and left them, and now he's helping you. Don't judge," Holly said pointedly, glaring a little. Scarlet gulped.

"Hey look, the battle is starting!" Indigo said frantically to distract them from the mini conflict, everyone's eyes flicking to the stage.

"**Time for this Lake Valor contest's final battle! Lance Piaggesi verses December Moon!**" Lillian announced. Lance and December walked onto the stage, holding a Poké Ball each, and getting in position.

December started off and threw out her Poké Ball, a Dewgong thrown out onto the battlefield – appearing to come out of a big blue star as it landed on the floor, shooting out a wave of ice through the ground, freezing it over.

Lance threw his next, releasing his Ivysaur onto the contest stage surrounded by flowers, grabbing them and crushing them into separate petals with her vines.

"**BEGIN!**"

"Start this off with Sweet Scent!" Lance ordered, Flora nodding and shooting off a blast of sparkling pink dust from its flower, filling the stage as the Dewgong inhaled it involuntarily, and her face became relaxed, "Okay, now Razor Leaf and Leech Seed combination, go!"

"Dodge it Aurora!" December called.

The leech seed shot out of Flora's bulb surrounded by high speed spinning leaves from the Razor Leaf, the vines dispersing early as it flew through the air in a strangely beautiful attack aiming straight for Aurora. The Dewgong simply stared at the attack as the seed, vines and leaves flew towards it, looking slightly dazed as it tilted its head, before the order to dodge seemed to suddenly sink in as it yelped, and went to dodge. She nearly made it, but the seed buried in its side and wrapped the vines around it and zapping her energy away, right before she was also hit with the Razor Leaf which somehow managed not to sever any vines. December's points dropped.

"Damn!" December cursed. "Go for Icy Wind and then Double Team, Aurora!"

"So, she's both bringing her evasiveness stat back up, and attempting to lower Flora's speed, on top of the super effective type match up of that move," Auberon spurted, his usual analysis of strategy taking over. "What'll be the appearance target though…? It's rare for there to be a move used that isn't planned to look nice.

"I think I know. You'll see," Scarlet said.

Aurora fired off a blast of cold wind that threw sapphire like snow crystals, after a moment of delay from the Sweet Scent; then copied itself about a dozen times over and surrounded Flora in a circle. Only one of the attacks was causing damage, but they all appeared to hit her in a sparkling circle, causing points to drop from Lance's side. Flora flinched and tried to dodge the move, feeling where it was coming from to know where Aurora was.

"Go for the Energy Ball combo!"

Five glowing green balls of natural energy shot out of Ivysaur's flower, spinning in a fast circle in the air above her before suddenly splitting into quarters and slamming into each copy of Aurora, destroying them and mixing with the remains of the real and fake Icy Wind attacks which caused a beautiful mix of colours. The final few hit into the real ice type, making her skid back.

**3:50**

"Aqua Ring!" December called, glancing up at the timer, '_Minute and ten gone. I may have to focus on damage, which I wouldn't normally do in a contest…_'

The seal Pokémon formed shining blue circles of water around her, twisting into a ball of rings like a ball of rubber bands, water droplets falling everywhere and dripping onto Aurora also, restoring her energy. The move had been practiced and perfected in such a way that a whole eighth of Lance's points immediately dropped from the screen as the timer hit 3:30.

"Now Ice Shard!"

Sharp pieces of Ice suddenly shot through the water, splashing it everywhere and making some drops of it freeze as they fell to the ground and splashed into beautiful little showers of ice. The shards flew towards the Ivysaur, who caught and crushed some with her vines as she dodged others, but unable to avoid every single piece and getting caused minimal super effective damage.

She skidded backwards, stopping just in front of her trainer.

"You alright?" Lance asked. His Pokémon nodded, shaking herself and digging her feet into the ground, preparing for her next order, "Solar Beam!"

"Now, go for Brine, Blizzard and Ice Beam!" December ordered, watching the points now – they were almost level, Lance was just a little below hers. She had two options, finish off his points or finish off his Pokémon. Doing this combination could do both if done right, if done mostly right it may do one, but if it failed she'd be the ones losing the majority of her points.

The Brine shot off first, a powerful blast of water that headed straight of the grass type charging its Solar Beam attack. The Blizzard was fired around it, freezing the Brine from the end onwards as the third attack shot right down the middle, freezing every splash in a beautiful shape just as it slammed into the Ivysaur. Flora shrieked its name and flew back, hit with the ice as it smashed and flew everywhere. The attack had gone just as planned, the effect it left was stunning and the damage it did was just so also. Lance's points were on their last legs, and so was Flora.

"Alright! Good one!" December cheered, jumping, "Okay, now you go in with one more move! Sheer Cold!"

A flash shot of ice shot out from under the Dewgong, straight forward and slamming into Flora. This move was the last damage needed to end the battle.

**1:41**

"**And the winner of this battle is December Moon!**"

"Yes! I knew she'd be the one to win!" July said, cheering a little before going a bit quieter, just giving Kirara a smirk coated look. The blonde glared back at him, sticking her tongue out childishly and folding her arms in annoyance. "That's her third ribbon."

"Well, good for her… my day has been going downhill since I woke up…" Scarlet sighed, "But good battle. Even if it seemed very trainer-y."

"She did seem to go a bit damage based… but that attack before Sheer Cold was brilliant," Holly said, "Alright everyone, we're going to go back to the centre after the medal ceremony, we're all going to have a big dinner, cocoa and go to bed early because safe to say for some us of it has been a bit of a day. Plus it's just nice to relax."

"Amen to that!" Hotaru said.

~X~X~X~

**An Unknown Location**

"I have… no idea… why the fuck… you keep making me do… all this training… but I don't fucking like it…" Ruby Ketchum panted as she ran on a treadmill, cuffs on her arms to stop her from using her aura to attack them.

"Shut up and keep running." A male voice said, someone slapping her hard around the face making her spit hard, some of it blood.

"Bastard."

Over in the cells not far from the make-shift training area, Jasper sat in his cell listening to Noemi as she talked to him using her aura, whilst she was off in her dorm. He smiled slightly, though worried about his family, hands on the floor behind him, legs one up and one down. The floor was more comfortable than the beds they gave them.

"_All this time in here and Authoress has done nothing… nice to know her plots are more important than our safety…_" Jasper grunted through aura, sighing.

"_I'm sure that's not it. She can't control everything, remember. Give her some credit. When I saw her when we took that little kid before, she ended up in pretty bad shape… she really wasn't doing good… she probably hasn't got the energy or something… there's always more to things than there seems…_" Noemi's soft voice replied, the illusion of a hand on his shoulder forming.

"_I guess…_"

"Hey what's it take to get some damn food in here?!" Emerald yelled out from her cell two doors down, being her usual rowdy self, causing trouble.

"Dammit girl shut up!" Ash called out from his own, sighing as he leant back and hit the floor again, wondering where his wife was; his grandchildren and son-in-law were also missing, and no one had seen any of them for a while now. They hadn't even used them as bargaining chips anymore. Safe to say, everyone was worried.

"Listen to your dear father, green girl. You're not doing any of you any favours." A TUA agent snickered, glaring into the cell, "We haven't been nearly as bad as we could be. Don't push your luck."

"_Any idea why the attempts at recruiting us have stopped?_" Jasper asked Noemi, lying back completely on the floor.

"_No, I'm not on that level of clearance… but I doubt its good… they're not going to be releasing you if that's what you're hoping_," Noemi replied.

"_Oh I could do with a hug_."

"_I'd be giving you one if I could Jazz… how's everyone down there doing anyway?_"

"_None of our injuries have been tended to in ages… Ruby's doing more training for some reason, they've got her on a treadmill today… I don't get why they'd be trying to build up her physical strength… Emerald is being difficult, almost like she's purposely trying to get herself beaten up more… or worse. All the operatives down here are male, and let's just say she's the most voluptuous of the girls in our family, despite her tomboyishness. She's pushing her luck_." The dark haired boy sighed, rubbing his temples, "_Jade is the only one left now… I sure hope she knows how to hide…_"

"Pull ups," A TUA member told Ruby, lifting her and dropping her, forcing her to grab the bar to stop from hitting the ground. Grunting painfully, she started the next exercise as she continued to sweat inhuman amounts. She was having water pumped into her constantly to keep her hydrated.

"Can't we just see our damn family already?! She'd be working harder or at least up to your damn standards if she could see her kids were alright!" Ash yelled, hitting his head off a wall inside his cell. The soundproofing was turned off currently: they always wanted them to hear the physical torture the weakened woman was going through.

"Shut up old man. Your family is safe, take our word for it and get on with it." The TUA man said, snarling. Ash snarled back loudly, his patience worn out.

"Oh just shut your stupid trap you little bastard! I've dealt with more evil teams than I can name in my lifetime, I've lost my memory, I've nearly wiped Team Rocket off the map on more than once occasion, I totally wiped out Team Galactic, I've encountered more legendaries than you can name and fought some! I am not beneath little dicks like you with entitlement and race issues!" The old hero bellowed, slamming his fists against his indestructible cell, grunting.

"…Right. Says the one whose daddy is the leader of Team Rocket. He's still alive by the way, the old bugger. He's well into his 100s, but he's still kicking. The new leader is still going too, they're not gone. Galactic have operations somewhere. I can name every legendary and have caught at least one, even if it had to be released. I don't think you beat it really."

Everyone fell silent after that.

~X~X~X~

**_(Back at the Pokémon Centre – Lobby)_**

"So today has been a bit weird… But hopefully Gem will be back soon, and everything will have a little more of a sense of normal-…" Holly started saying as everyone sat around drinking hot cocoa, before Nevee let out a sudden yell that made everyone jump. Not an unusual thing, I know… but it was more what she was yelling that shocked them.

"Oh my god glowing bag! Eggy eggy!" She shrieked before giggling, digging into her bag and pulling out a glowing egg. Everyone else stared, then three others looked to their bags, seeing a similar glow and pulling out their own eggs.

"…My god we totally forgot! Eep! Eggs evolv- I mean hatching!" Scarlet said, jumping.

"…Well Gem, you really have set some things up…" Holly said with a sweatdrop.

~X~X~X~

**Me: Chapppppppter! YAY! Yes I rushed a bit… but I couldn't get into the battle this time… the bits I wrote outside the battles were better though, so yay~! This is the first of two possibly, as I'm updating this a bit faster now. We'll see. It's an Exam week. **

**…Yes, I really had forgot the eggs.**

**R&R!**


	69. Ep 68: Hellos and Goodbyes

**Me: New chapter, this could easily just be random as to be honest I have no proper plot for this thing. All I know is the basic theme and how it's going to end. So… yay for improvisation?**

**I'm beyond sorry about how long this took, a lot has happened, from bad to good… So it's been very hard to focus. **

**Episode 68: Hellos and Goodbyes**

**"Last chapter we saw the final battle of the Lake Valor contest, which December Moon - who has recently re-joined the group with her companion July Sienna – won. Authoress is still in another storyverse, with her old friend Holly taking charge of the group temporarily. No one knows when she'll be back, but it appears she has left plenty of surprises as the eggs the group received at the Daycare they encountered.**

**…Where was I the start of last chapter by the way?"**

"Sorry, I'm getting used to the minimal control she gave me for this. I forgot to press the Narrator button due to the suddenness of Dante's appearance," Holly said, raising her arms above her head, "Bigger issues right now."

**"Sorry."**

"Okay so we have four eggs randomly hatching, because we forgot we were even given them. CAN THIS DAY GET ANY CRAZIER?!" Auberon said, starting off calm before going to his common over-exaggerated tones. Scarlet hit him around the back of the head.

The four eggs sat on a table in the back of the Pokémon Centre, Nurse Joy and her Chansey standing nearby to assist with the new hatchlings when the glow finally became continuous. So far, the flashes were just very close together and very long, signalling it was nearly – but not quite – time for the Pokémon to Hatch.

"Authoress never leaves us with a dull moment. Well, sometimes she does, but ya know," Scarlet said, shrugging.

"Eggy eggy eggy!" Nevee cheered, everyone having tuned her out long ago, with even TJ looking completely out of it with his chin on her head. She kept clapping her hands together, which was proving a little harder to tune out, but they were managing.

"Oh! Mine's gone continuous!" Indigo said, jumping a little, putting her hands on the table in front of the egg.

"Eep! Mine too!" Nevee cheered, giggling.

"Ditto you two," Scarlet grinned, one hand on her hip, looking at the egg. It was silent, spare the humming of the eggs as they began their final stage of hatching, for a minute before everyone stared at Auberon and his apparently stubborn egg.

"You stupid thing I swear I will s-… Oh look it's continuous too now!" Auberon said, started off ominously before becoming cheerful. Clearly he was now in a randomly bipolar mood.

The glows grew intensely, Auberon's egg soon catching up with the first three as they began to change shape to form into their Pokémon.

**_It's so hard to find your way,  
Everything's changing every day,  
Secrets are hidden and quests to fulfil,  
Who knows what will happen as you climb up that hill?  
Friends old and new,  
Stronger enemies too,  
Everything's different this time around,  
It's time to keep fighting and get up off the ground!_**

**_Pokémon: Scarlet's Road!_**

"Vul!"

"Azu!"

"Bonsly!"

"Mime!"

"Yay so cute!" Nevee said happily after the Pokémon formed in front of them, all looking around a little confused at their new surroundings. She happily picked up the pink and blue Pokémon, Mime Jr., and held it close. TJ kept enough a hold on her arms to stop her crushing the poor thing as it nuzzled her a little, confused. The others all looked at their new Pokémon: Indigo letting her Azurill hop up onto her arm and then shoulder as it nuzzled her cheek, making her giggle; Scarlet happily petted her adorable little Vulpix as she quickly named her 'Vixen' as Indigo called hers Azu; Auberon immediately had to calm down his unnamed Bonsly's Fake Tears; and Nevee continued to cheerfully play with her new baby Pokémon, naming her Minnie.

"Auberon as a parent to a baby Pokémon, this should be interesting…" Jaspa chuckled under his breath. Auberon glared at him despite no one else hearing – sometimes you'd think he's the one with the weird genes.

"I'll be fine thanks! Like you'd do any better, geeky!" Auberon whined, pouting.

"What did he even say?" Indigo said, sweatdropping as she petted her Azurill happily.

"That me as a parent is stupid!" Auberon said with a pout, "It isn't! And I'm not even a parent; I'm a trainer, so shut up!"

"Yes yes, Auberon." Jaspa said, rolling his eyes.

"So, now what do we do? Tap them with our balls?" Scarlet asked, glaring at a snickering Auberon moments later. "Seriously, Auberon?" Auberon laughed.

"Dirty jokes aside, that's the gist of it," Hotaru said, rolling her eyes.

"Alrighty then! Come on then little foxy, time to go in the Poké Ball," Scarlet said, grabbing the ball that she had for the hatchling and going to tap Vixen, as did everyone else with their own Pokémon and Poké Ball, however…

"VUL!"

Within a matter of seconds, the new baby Pokémon had suddenly jumped from their new trainers' arms simultaneously, running off to god knows where at the drop of a hat. Typical, of new-born Pokémon born to crazy children; that these four hatchlings would be born with so much energy and need to adventure.

"…Seriously? I am going to kill Authoress if she comes back alive." Scarlet said with a deadpanned face, everyone standing with a similar expression. The Pokémon were long gone, but naturally, the next task…

"And now we have to go find them." Hotaru sighed, facepalming and then facepalming over the first with her other hand, "Let me guess, full 'episode' hunt?"

"I damn well hope not, I want fun on the beach before we go!" Kira whined, stomping her feet. Lance facepalmed, smacking his sister around the back of the head. She glared at him.

"How about we take it in turns to search? Or go off in groups? When you find what you're looking for you report back in, and you can relax on the beach after. That work?" Holly suggested, with her arms crossed.

"I suppose that works…" Kirara whined, "Lance, follow, now! We are getting this done and relaxing!" She proceeded to grab her twin by the wrist and start to drag him away.

"Hey! Alright, Scarlet, Auberon, you go with those two," Holly said with a sigh, then cutting them off as both opened their mouths, "You're all equally annoying as each other and I am currently in charge so just do as I say!" Their shoulders slumped in defeat. "TJ, Nevee, Hotaru and Lucy will go with you. Jaspa and Indigo, you two'll be with me. Okay? It better be because that's what's happening whether you like it or not." Most of the group sweatdropped.

"You're turning into her, damn," Scarlet whined, "Fine. Twins; Elfy, time to move!"

"Do not call me Elfy!" Auberon said in an equally whiny voice, before Holly got annoyed enough with them to give them a glare that could almost rival Gemma's, making the four run off with a sudden burst of speed. Holly sighed, running a hand back through her hair as she looked at the other groups, Nevee jumping onto TJ's back as they prepared to leave.

"Funnily enough, your group is somehow saner than theirs, even with Nevee in it… alright everyone, time to search!" Holly said, clapping once and then starting to walk, with Indigo and Jaspa following after her, Indigo latched onto his arms. Nevee giggled happily as she watched her friend and her brother as they were, making hearts with her hands as she held onto TJ with her legs. Jaspa glanced back at her, chuckling silently to himself as he passed her a small smile, which made her squeal happily.

"It's a bit of a bad sign if she squeals so happily at a sign of a smile from her brother, Jaspa," Holly said as they walked away. Jaspa shrugged a little, wrapping his arm properly around Indigo with a small smile.

"I wasn't much of a brother. Indigo's helped me change that," He said with a still foreign happy tone to his voice, making Indigo smile and blush at the same time, whilst her heart sped up for two reasons.

He could never find out.

~X~X~X~

**_Auberon, Scarlet, Kira, Lance…_**

"I hate authoress. I hate her so, so much. We couldn't just have a simple day, could we?" Kira whined, slumped over as she walked with the group. Lances sighed, tugging at the back of her shirt as he tried to get her to stand back up straight again.

"She also decided to put the two pairs that conflict the most in the same group. Well, Holly did, but we all know Gem planned this too," The twin added, rubbing his head as he gave up his battle to make his sister stand up properly. Kira stuck her tongue out at him, whining again. "You're also the most annoying sibling anyone could ever ever ask for, sis."

"Thank you!" Kira grinned, sticking her tongue out.

"That was not a compliment."

"Shush! Come on, the sooner we find the Pokémon, the sooner we get to relax on the beach!" Scarlet said, punching the air and starting an exaggerated, fast march forward. Auberon rolled his eyes, pulling her by her hood again and making her stop the march and speaking as it choked her a little.

"Walking like that is not going to help any. Walk like a normal person and let's get moving!"

"Bon, sly!"

"Vuuuul!"

"There they are! Run!"

~X~X~X~

**_TJ, Nevee, Hotaru, Lucy…_**

"Wanna bet the twins and the other two are killing each other by now?" Hotaru said with a sigh, walking along with the group she was assigned as they tried to find the Pokémon.

"Probably." Lucy said with a shrug, "Oddly, I think we got a saner group than that. With these two in. That has to break some law of nature, surely!" She giggled a little, and Hotaru rolled her eyes with a slight smile.

"TJJJJJ~!" Nevee laughed, making the two look back. TJ was grinning and tickling under her knees as he carried her on his back, making her cling tighter and giggle more.

"Sweet pair," Lucy smiled.

"What are we even doing here Lucy? Why are we involved? We could have just run, saved ourselves the trouble," Hotaru said out of nowhere, her tone serious.

"Because we know that TUA would come after us anyway. We know that these people are key to bringing them down, possibly for good. Because, Hotaru, we are good people." Lucy said in an equally serious tone, giving her friend a stern look, "God knows what that family is going through. We wouldn't want it to be what has happened to us."

Hotaru sighed and nodded, knowing that Lucy was right – only needing to have herself reminded. Her purple haired friend grinned, hugging her tightly.

"Are you ever going to get that dye out?" The brunette asked, "It's not going to fade on its own."

"Maybe. It could come in useful one day though, who knows, we'll see what happens when this mess is all finally over," Lucy said with a shrug. "Besides, doesn't it suit me?" She pulled a stupid face, and Hotaru couldn't help but start laughing.

"Minnie!" Nevee then exclaimed from behind them, making them both turn around and realise that now the two younger trainers were a good ten metres behind them, Nevee off of TJ's back and hugging the Mime Jr. "Minnie is here now! Can we go to the beach?"

TJ chuckled, picking her up again and this time carrying her bridal style. She clung onto Minnie, who now nuzzled her new trainer – probably having run off because the others did.

"That was what was agreed," Hotaru said with a shrug, "Let's go."

~X~X~X~

**_Indigo, Jaspa, Holly…_**

"You both doing alright?" Holly asked the two as she and the pair searched around their chosen route for Indigo's egg Pokémon.

"How so?" Jaspa asked, a little cautious, as he glanced around with his more advanced eyes.

"Gem told me everyone's basics; I'm just wondering," The scarlet haired woman continued, "Sorry if it sounds nosy. I'm meant to be taking care of you all for god knows how long, so…"

"We're doing fine. Great, actually." Jaspa said, trying to hide his defensive tone as he hugged Indigo to him, smiling softly as she accepted his hold and wrapped an arm around him, "We're happy. Happier than we probably have been. I'm more open now."

"Well that's good then~" Holly said with a smile, though inside she knew that something wasn't quite right. She had seen Jaspa as decently open with people since she had arrived, not like how Gem had told him he used to be. But something wasn't right about Indigo, she knew that much – she'd learnt a lot about how people hid away their fears from when she had travelled with Gem.

But she also knew that you had to be nearly as close as blood to that person for them to tell you if you didn't find out by mistake, so she knew that Indigo would say nothing to her. She was a stranger to them, and no matter how much she wanted to help she knew that they wouldn't accept it from her. Whatever she was scared of was her business.

So she left it at that.

"Are you two, like, a couple?" Holly asked after a while of silence. There was still no sign of Azu, so they kept searching, with Indigo calling out occasionally. However she cut off mid call when the woman asked this question, both she and Jaspa going red.

"N-No! We're just good friends!" Both protested at the same time, Jaspa coughing after a moment, to compose himself. He folded his arms and let Indigo cling to him again, her face still crimson.

"Right, alright. Sorry," Holly said, inwardly rolling her eyes. They were just as bad as her old friends. Probably worse.

"Azu! Rill!"

"Hey, that's her! Come on!" Indigo said, relived at the timing, running after the small blue Pokémon, eager to leave that conversation behind her. The others quickly followed.

~X~X~X~

**_Beach – About an hour later_**

TJ and Nevee were happily splashing about in the beautifully clear water that lapped at the sand on the beach, Nevee in her bright red one piece with a smiley face, TJ in his trunks. Indigo was knelt at the water's edge, playing with Azumarill, Aquagelic and Marshtomp; whilst her other Pokémon played in the sand with the Pokémon the others had released. Jaspa watched her happily, kneeling in the water near her with his black trunks on, topped by a white shirt that kept the sun off of his easily burnable skin.

Lucy was making a sand-Squirtle, whilst Hotaru stared at her with an eyebrow raised, the prunette (yes, I did just make purple haired people become prunettes) just laughing. Holly was sat by them, enjoying the brief moment of relaxation that finally felt like she was on holiday again. The only people yet to come back were Scarlet's group.

That soon changed.

"Finally!" Kira groaned as she fell onto her backside on the sand, near the others, "Only took us bloody forever. They're not even our Pokémon!"

"Oh shut up, we're here now," Scarlet said, rolling her eyes, "And I don't know about you-' she threw her Poké Balls, letting her Pokémon out to enjoy the sun, 'But I'm just going to have fun."

She ran out to the ocean, soon followed by Auberon, shedding clothes on the way. Kira rolled her eyes but did the same, running down to the ocean, soon followed by her twin brother. Holly rolled her eyes behind a pair of sun glasses.

"Hey, where are July and December by the way? The narrator said they joined the group," Lucy asked Holly curiously, causing a sudden jolt from the woman as she jumped to her feet.

"Crap!" She snapped her fingers clumsily which made the two appear on the beach, December looking around a bit confused, and July looking furious, "I am so sorry guys! I'm not used to this authoress powers things, I think I put you into character limbo or something! I'm sorry Julian, December…"

December pulled his arm as he grew angrier due to the use of his full name, giving him a look and rubbing his shoulder, just about calming him.

"It's alright; at least it was only an accident. If it were Authoress I have a feeling it wouldn't be," The dark haired girl said, "July, we can just relax on the beach now, alright? We're moving onto Pastoria later."

"Fine…" July sighed, making December smile. "Forgiven, I suppose."

"Heh…" Holly muttered awkwardly, sitting back down and laying back, "_Gem, get your butt back here._"

~X~X~X~

**_That Evening – Centre of the Resort_**

"So you guys are heading up to Hearthome, right?" Scarlet asked. It was sunset by now, everyone had decided that despite the fact they could just stay on in the resort until the morning that it was too expensive and camping out only an hour or so after starting their walk wasn't so bad.

Lance nodded, "Gym rerun and the first contest up there."

"So yep, bye bye losers!" Kira said, sticking her tongue out. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, we're really losers. At least we're not going through the same region over again," Auberon said, smirking. Kira stopped abruptly, standing up in army strict posture as she went red.

"S-Shut up!" She snapped. Jaspa took over a now laughing Scarlet's job and gave Auberon a silencing glare to stop him saying anything else.

"Good luck you guys. We'll be taking on Crasher next, so good luck with Fantina," Indigo said with a smile, "And with the contest."

"I plan to have my next ribbon or more next time we see you!" Scarlet grinned.

"Bye bye!" Nevee giggled obliviously.

"Out of control for a little bit! Woo!" Kira cheered, turning and walking down the path they were taking to Hearthome, the way they'd come from Veilstone. Lance rolled his eyes once more, and then turned to follow her.

"…Hey, speaking of losers, where's Kite?" Hotaru asked, earning a smack from Lucy.

"…Crap." Holly groaned.

**_Character Limbo_**

Kite has been repeatedly pacing back and forth in this eternally white space for the duration of the day, and he was getting both confused and fed up. He could have sworn he saw two of the others here earlier, but not right now. He was beyond lost and confused as to what was going on, and by now had resorted to kicking the floor.

"Guys? Come on, this isn't funny!" He whined, stomping on the floor, "I thought I was in the group for a while? Is this some prank? Come on, I don't know where I am! Guys! Please, come on. I don't know where I am and if this is some prank it's not funny." He kicked the floor and paced around some more, whining like a child who'd been grounded. "Help me, come on! Guys! Get me out of here!

"GUUUUUUYS!"

~X~X~X~

**Me: Well, it's out! I am so so sorry for how long this took, really I am. It hasn't been the best few weeks, but I'm getting back on track slowly. I'll be putting out a Hunger Games fic later, and I'd love any readers to check it out. That series is inspiration for something in TP, so… yeah! **

**I'll be working on TP next.**

**R&R!**


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